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In this Letter, we demonstrate a Pt/BaTiO3/Al0.58Ga0.42N lateral heterojunction diode with enhanced breakdown characteristics. By using BaTiO3, a high-k material, as a dielectric material between the anode and semiconductor, the peak electric field at the anode edge near the cathode was significantly reduced and an average breakdown field exceeding 8 MV/cm was achieved for devices with an anode to cathode spacing of <0.2 μm. In contrast, Pt/Al0.58Ga0.42N control Schottky diodes displayed an average breakdown field of ∼4 MV/cm for devices with similar dimensions. The use of a high-k dielectric can more effectively utilize the high breakdown fields in ultra-wide bandgap materials by proper management of the electric field. This demonstration thus provides a framework to realize ultra-scaled lateral devices with improved breakdown characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) negatively affects health‐related quality of life (HRQoL). In a previously reported randomized clinical trial (NCT01920893), addition of dupilumab to mometasone furoate in patients with CRSwNP refractory to intranasal corticosteroids (INCS) significantly improved endoscopic, radiographic, and clinical endpoints and patient‐reported outcomes. The objective of this analysis was to examine the impact of dupilumab treatment on HRQoL and productivity using secondary outcome data from this trial. Methods: Following a 4‐week mometasone furoate nasal spray run‐in, patients were randomized to commence subcutaneous dupilumab (600 mg loading dose, then 300 mg once weekly for 15 weeks [n = 30], or matched placebo [n = 30]). Outcomes included scores on the CRS disease severity visual analog scale (VAS), 22‐item Sino‐Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT‐22), 5‐dimension EuroQoL (EQ‐5D) general health status VAS, and 36‐item Short‐Form Health Survey (SF‐36) for HRQoL and nasal polyp‐related healthcare resource use questionnaires. Results: Following 16 weeks of treatment, the proportion of patients with moderate‐to‐severe CRSwNP (VAS > 3‐10) decreased from 86.2% to 21.4% with dupilumab and 88.0% to 84.2% with placebo. Dupilumab (vs placebo) resulted in significantly greater improvement in HRQoL, based on SNOT‐22, SF‐36, and EQ‐5D VAS scores. The dupilumab group had a significantly lower adjusted annualized mean number of sick leave days (0.09, vs 4.18 with placebo, P =.015) and significantly greater improvement (vs placebo) in the SNOT‐22 item "reduced productivity." Conclusions: In adults with CRSwNP refractory to treatment with INCS alone, the addition of dupilumab reduced disease severity, significantly improved HRQoL, and improved productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative capacitance field-effect transistors (NCFETs) with optimal ferroelectric parameters provide phenomenal power reduction as discussed in Part I. In this part, we explore the impact of operating voltage on power consumption at the device, gate, and full-chip levels. We first observe that high operating voltages applied to NCFET devices lead to an abrupt increase in both the drain current and the gate capacitance. Furthermore, negative capacitance is lost when the voltage is set too high. On the other hand, the gate capacitance increase still exists, although with smaller magnitude, even at low operating voltages. This helps reduce device delay and eventually full-chip delay. Furthermore, delay improvement at the full-chip level can be traded off to gain power reduction at the full-chip level. Finally, our experiments suggest that a sufficiently low supply voltage (= 0.4 V out of [0.2 and 0.8 V] range in our study) is needed to maximize power and performance gain at full-chip level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this two-part article, we propose a framework for selecting ferroelectric oxide material for the design of a negative capacitance field-effect transistor (NCFET). The investigation is based on an exhaustive search of two important ferroelectric material parameters: remnant polarization and coercive field in the context of their negative capacitance properties. The effects of these parameters are first studied at the NCFET device level and systematically extended up to the full-chip level. Based on this search, we arrive at the notion of optimality of ferroelectric parameters for a given “isoperformance full-chip benchmark”: The power dissipation in a specific circuit/system is maximally reduced by using optimized NCFETs while meeting the target performance. In Part I, we develop the framework for identifying optimal ferroelectric parameters at a given VDD. This sets the stage for Part II, where we investigate the optimal ferroelectric parameters as VDD is scaled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrawide bandgap (UWBG) AlGaN-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor heterostructure field-effect transistors (MOSHFETs) with a ZrO2 gate dielectric achieve peak current in excess of 0.4 A/mm and current ON/OFF ratios >106 with subthreshold swings as low as 110 mV/decade. These devices have strong potential for use in power and radio frequency electronics or as true solar-blind photodetectors. In this work, we present the photoresponse analysis in UWBG AlGaN MOSHFETs. Persistent photoconductivity with the decay time above 10 minutes can be quenched by illuminating with strong UV light at 365 nm and 254 nm, suggesting deep traps to be responsible for this behavior. Upon correlating the optical response under various illumination conditions with cathodoluminescence of these devices, we identified two key trap levels at ∼2.48 ± 0.14 eV and 3.76 ± 0.06 eV, controlling the slow response time. By depth-profiling using cathodoluminescence, these traps are identified to be at the AlN/AlGaN interface at the back of the device, due to partial relaxation from the lattice mismatch between AlN and Al0.4Ga0.6N. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Color is an important quality attribute of fungi, and a useful marker for classification, genetic, and molecular research. However, there is much debate over which enzymes play key regulatory roles in pigment synthesis pathways among different fungi and even within the same species. Auricularia cornea is the most widely cultivated mushroom in the genus Auricularia ; 1.834 million tons of this mushroom were produced in 2016 in China. Thus, systematic studies on its color inheritance and the genes encoding key enzymes for pigment synthesis have high scientific and economic value. In this study, the white strain ACW001 and the purple strain ACP004 of A. cornea were used as dikaryotic parents. Selfing populations of ACW001 and ACP004 were constructed with their monokaryotic strains. The fruiting body color of the two populations was consistent with that of their parents, confirming that the two parents were color homozygotes. All strains in the hybrid population of the two parents produced purple fruiting bodies. A robust hybrid strain (ACW001-33×ACP004-33) was selected from the hybrid population, and 87 monokaryotic strains of ACW001-33×ACP004-33 were obtained as a mapping population. Finally, a testcross population was constructed by crossing the mapping population with the test strain ACW001-9. The color genotype of each monokaryotic strain in the mapping population was identified by a fruiting test. The genomes of the two monokaryotic strains ACW001-33 and ACP004-33 were sequenced, and then simple sequence repeat (SSR) and sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) molecular marker primers were developed. Then, 88 pairs of primers that could distinguish the genotypes of the mapping population were used to construct a genetic linkage map. The genetic linkage map consisted of 12 linkage groups (LGs) spanning 1315.2 cM. The color control locus was preliminarily located at 24.5 cM of the 11th LG. Fine-mapping primers were designed based on sequence differences between ACW001-33 and ACP004-33 in the primary location region. Four color control candidate genes were located in an 8.2-kb region of ACW001-33_contig733 and a 9.2-kb region of ACP004-33_contig802. Homologous alignment and prediction of conserved domain analyses indicated that two of the color control candidate genes encoded proteins with unknown function, and the other two, ACP004_g11815 and ACP004_g11816, encoded glutamyl aminotransferases. These two genes were consecutively arranged on ACP004-33_contig802, and were likely to encode key enzymes in the γ-glutamine-4-hydroxy-benzoate (GHB) pigment synthesis pathway. Primers were designed from the flanking sequences of the two genes and used to analyze the testcross population. Products were amplified only from the 30 testcross strains with purple fruiting bodies, confirming the accuracy of the localization results. We discuss the deficiencies and advantages of map-based cloning in fungi vs. plants, and summarize the steps and requirements of the map-based cloning method for fungi. This study has provided novel ideas and methods for locating functional genes in fungi. • Classical genetic and molecular methods were combined to study the color inheritance and pigment synthesis of A. cornea. • The parental selfing populations were constructed to verify that the two parents were homozygous for color traits. • The color control candidate genes were located in the 8.2–9.2 kb region through preliminary location and fine mapping. • The steps and requirements of the mapping and cloning of fungal specific genes by map-based cloning were summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum software engineering is a field of study that combines principles from quantum computing and classical software engineering. One potential application of quantum software engineering is in the area of wireless sensor networks (WSNs), specifically in the localization of nodes. WSNs are equipped to gather information by detecting the surroundings around smart cities. Numerous applications related to Mobility in Smart Cities (MSC) struggle with routing, security, deployment, extended lifetime, data computation, and localization. Many academics have developed various Computational Intelligence-based techniques for the aforementioned problems to attain high-level performance of MSCs. Quantum software engineering can potentially enhance the accuracy and efficiency of node localization in WSNs. Node localization refers to the process used to locate the target node. Accurately determining the coordinates of static nodes is simple, but locating mobile nodes is more difficult. The performance of the MSC is directly impacted by localization accuracy. In this article, the Quantum-based Salp Swarm Algorithm (QBSSA) is implemented for a range-based and range-free framework. The performance of already existing techniques is evaluated and compared with QBSSA, such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and H-best Particle Swarm Optimization (HPSO). The mobile anchor node moves in the whole network in a Hilbert path topology and localizes the mobile targets in the network by their random deployment in the area of communication. To minimize the effect of Line of Sight propagation, the Hilbert trajectory is used. The results of the simulation demonstrate that the proposed approach can localize the mobile target with a two-fold reduction in error as opposed to PSO and a 1.5-fold reduction in error as opposed to HPSO, at the same time as the computational time is significantly reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we design and demonstrate an improved metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) grown reverse Al-composition graded contact layer, whereby the Al-composition of AlxGa1−xN in the contact layer is graded from the higher Al-composition as in the channel to lower Al-composition, to achieve a low resistance contact to MOCVD grown ultrawide bandgap Al0.70Ga0.30N channel metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors. Increasing the thickness of the reverse graded layer was found to improve contact layer resistance significantly, leading to a contact resistivity of 3.3 × 10−5 Ω cm2. Devices with a gate length, LG, of 0.6 μm and a source-drain spacing, LSD, of 1.5 μm displayed a maximum current density, IDS,MAX, of 635 mA/mm with an applied gate voltage, VGS, of +2 V. Breakdown measurements on transistors with a gate to drain spacing, LGD, of 770 nm had breakdown voltage greater than 220 V, corresponding to a minimum breakdown field of 2.86 MV/cm—almost 3× higher than that exhibited by lateral GaN channel devices with similar dimensions. This work provides a framework for the design of low resistance contacts to MOCVD grown high Al-content AlxGa1−xN channel transistors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Loss to follow up from anti tuberculosis treatment (ATT) can result into, increase in cure time, drug resistance development, reduced probability of treatment compliance and increased chances of death. Therefore, interventions focused at improvement of treatment adherence can play a pivotal role in containment and control of TB. Objective: To reduce the loss to follow up rate from existing 9% at our settings i.e. National Institute of Child Health (NICH) Karachi, Pakistan. Study design, settings and duration: This prospective observational study of 18 months was conducted among children at TB clinic NICH, Karachi, Pakistan. Subjects and Methods: After taking informed written consent from parent/guardian, a Performa containing demographic and clinical information was filled and a pamphlet about adherence to treatment was given to them. After one week, every patient was contacted on mobile phone; in case of no response, home visit was made and a monthly follow up was also done. Those found to have stopped taking ATT were given awareness about complications of discontinuing ATT. Results: Out of 167 patients, 83 (49.7%) were males, mean age was 7.82 years and mean weight was 8.95 kg. Pulmonary TB was most prevalent (52.0%) followed by TB of lymph nodes (22.9%).More than 91% patients were cured, 8 (4.8%) were expired; one had MDR TB and loss to follow up rate reduced to 3.6% from previous 9% as per our hospital records. Conclusion: A visible decrease in loss to follow up rate has been achieved through multi step facilitation via mobile phone calls, messages and house hold visits of enrolled patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GMPEs are empirical equations used in seismic hazard analysis studies to predict ground motions. These GMPEs do not exit for Pakistan. In previous studies, GMPEs are adopted in different regions of the world. In this study, all the previously used GMPEs along some global ones are collected and evaluated with local strong motion data collected from different agencies. In this study, strong motion data are collected from different agencies in Pakistan. Provided data is in the wave-form that was converted into digital form for use in the analysis. These strong motion records were used to compile a strong motion catalog. By using the software, we removed the noise and put the mean removal on the wave for filtering and finding the low and high pass value. The analyses of standard deviation data show that Sharma et al. (2009) and Akkar and Bommer (2010) GMPEs results in high values of standard deviation compared to that of Boore and Atkinson (2008). This study clearly shows that internationally published GMPEs are not necessarily suitable for every region. Even a meager amount of strong motion data is used for evaluation of these GMPEs so only those conforming closer to local crustal conditions can be used for determination of seismic hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Date palm is an important fruit crop of Pakistan with rich economic, social and nutritional values. The Baluchistan province of Pakistan has been well known for date palm cultivation since long. In addition to its long history of date palm cultivation, Baluchistan's geo-political position with Iran and Oman also highlights its position as a rich source of genetic diversity. The present study was aimed to estimate the genetic diversity and population structure of date palm in Makran division (Baluchistan), which is considered as a major groove for production of high quality date palm. A set of 52 microsatellite markers were utilized to analyze the genetic relationship among 61 date palm genotypes. High polymorphism was found with an average polymorphic Information content (PIC) of 0.67 which indicates significant genetic variation in date palm accession under study. A total 387 alleles were scored with an average of 8.23 alleles for each locus. According to the Bayesian clustering approach, the entire population was partitioned into two clusters i.e., Turbat and Panjgur with few admixture lines. The presence of two subgroups corresponded to distinct adaptive behavior of genotypes to different ecological environment. Analysis of molecular variance revealed 80% of the variation within individuals, while 16% was due to differences among individuals and 4% variation was found among populations. Principal coordinate analysis and neighbor joining tree exhibited the same clusters as illustrated in STRUCTURE V.2.2 software. The variation detected through SSR markers supports that Baluchistan region may be another center of diversity for date palm. The genetic diversity information from this study can also be used for future breeding programs, association mapping, gene cloning and germplasm conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation in the high‐altitude Indus basin governs its renewable water resources affecting water, energy and food securities. However, reliable estimates of precipitation climatology and associated hydrological implications are seriously constrained by the quality of observed data. As such, quantitative and spatio‐temporal distributions of precipitation estimated by previous studies in the study area are highly contrasting and uncertain. Generally, scarcity and biased distribution of observed data at the higher altitudes and measurement errors in precipitation observations are the primary causes of such uncertainties. In this study, we integrated precipitation data of 307 observatories with the net snow accumulations estimated through mass balance studies at 21 major glacier zones. Precipitation observations are adjusted for measurement errors using the guidelines and standard methods developed under the WMO's international precipitation measurement intercomparisons, while net snow accumulations are adjusted for ablation losses using standard ablation gradients. The results showed more significant increases in precipitation of individual stations located at higher altitudes during winter months, which are consistent with previous studies. Spatial interpolation of unadjusted precipitation observations and net snow accumulations at monthly scale indicated significant improvements in the quantitative and spatio‐temporal distribution of precipitation over the unadjusted case and previous studies. Adjustment of river flows revealed only a marginal contribution of net glacier mass balance to river flows. The adjusted precipitation estimates are more consistent with the corresponding adjusted river flows. The study recognized that the higher river flows than the corresponding precipitation estimates by the previous studies are mainly due to underestimated precipitation. The results can be useful for water balance studies and bias correction of gridded precipitation products for the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dupilumab is a fully human anti-interleukin-4 receptor α monoclonal antibody that blocks both interleukin-4 and interleukin-13 signaling. Its effectiveness in reducing oral glucocorticoid use in patients with severe asthma while maintaining asthma control is unknown.Methods: We randomly assigned 210 patients with oral glucocorticoid-treated asthma to receive add-on dupilumab (at a dose of 300 mg) or placebo every 2 weeks for 24 weeks. After a glucocorticoid dose-adjustment period before randomization, glucocorticoid doses were adjusted in a downward trend from week 4 to week 20 and then maintained at a stable dose for 4 weeks. The primary end point was the percentage reduction in the glucocorticoid dose at week 24. Key secondary end points were the proportion of patients at week 24 with a reduction of at least 50% in the glucocorticoid dose and the proportion of patients with a reduction to a glucocorticoid dose of less than 5 mg per day. Severe exacerbation rates and the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) before bronchodilator use were also assessed.Results: The percentage change in the glucocorticoid dose was -70.1% in the dupilumab group, as compared with -41.9% in the placebo group (P<0.001); 80% versus 50% of the patients had a dose reduction of at least 50%, 69% versus 33% had a dose reduction to less than 5 mg per day, and 48% versus 25% completely discontinued oral glucocorticoid use. Despite reductions in the glucocorticoid dose, in the overall population, dupilumab treatment resulted in a severe exacerbation rate that was 59% (95% confidence interval [CI], 37 to 74) lower than that in the placebo group and resulted in an FEV1 that was 0.22 liters (95% CI, 0.09 to 0.34) higher. Injection-site reactions were more common with dupilumab than with placebo (9% vs. 4%). Transient blood eosinophilia was observed in more patients in the dupilumab group than in the placebo group (14% vs. 1%).Conclusions: In patients with glucocorticoid-dependent severe asthma, dupilumab treatment reduced oral glucocorticoid use while decreasing the rate of severe exacerbations and increasing the FEV1. Transient eosinophilia was observed in approximately 1 in 7 dupilumab-treated patients. (Funded by Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; LIBERTY ASTHMA VENTURE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02528214 .). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the effects of lanthanum doping/alloying on antiferroelectric (AFE) properties of ZrO2. Starting with pure ZrO2, an increase in La doping leads to the narrowing of the AFE double hysteresis loops and an increase in the critical voltage/electric field for AFE → ferroelectric transition. At higher La contents, the polarization-voltage characteristics of doped/alloyed ZrO2 resemble that of a non-linear dielectric without any discernible AFE-type hysteresis. X-ray diffraction based analysis indicates that the increased La content while preserving the non-polar, parent AFE, tetragonal P42/nmc phase leads to a decrease in tetragonality and the (nano-)crystallite size and an increase in the unit cell volume. Furthermore, antiferroelectric behavior is obtained in the as-deposited thin films without requiring any capping metallic layers and post-deposition/-metallization anneals due to which our specific atomic layer deposition system configuration crystallizes and stabilizes the AFE tetragonal phase during growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesoporous silica based drug carriers were synthesized and characterized by FTIR, NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, nitrogen adsorption, thermogravimetry, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and X-rays diffraction. Zeta potential was measured with zetasizer. The synthesized materials were tested as a drug carrier for ibuprofen, ibuprofen sodium dihydrate and 5‑fluorouracil. Silica with long organic surface chains and ordered mesoporous network showed a high loading capacity for ibuprofen (22.0 wt%), ibuprofen sodium dehydrate (48.0 wt%) and 5‑fluorouracil (9.4 wt%). The long hydrophobic chains enhanced the drug adhesion to the silica surface which eventually delayed the release of the drug and hence presented a sustained and controlled release profiles. The study suggests that the synthesized materials have potential as controlled drug release systems where prolonged drug therapeutic effects are required. This study also suggests that the 5‑fluorouracil loaded nano-carriers in the form of films, mats or cream could be a potential candidate for skin cancer treatment formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogels evolved as an outstanding carrier material for local and controlled drug delivery that tend to overcome the shortcomings of old conventional dosage forms for small drugs (NSAIDS) and large peptides and proteins. The aqueous swellable and crosslinked polymeric network structure of hydrogels is composed of various natural, synthetic and semisynthetic biodegradable polymers. Hydrogels have remarkable properties of functionality, reversibility, sterilizability, and biocompatibility. All these dynamic properties of hydrogels have increased the interest in their use as a carrier for peptides and proteins to be released slowly in a sustained manner. Peptide and proteins are remarkable therapeutic agents in today's world that allow the treatment of severe, chronic and life-threatening diseases, such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, hepatitis. Despite few limitations, hydrogels provide fine tuning of proteins and peptides delivery with enormous impact in clinical medicine. Novels drug delivery systems composed of smart peptides and molecules have the ability to drive self-assembly and form hydrogels at physiological pH. These hydrogels are significantly important for biological and medical fields. The primary objective of this article is to review current issues concerned with the therapeutic peptides and proteins and impact of remarkable properties of hydrogels on these therapeutic agents. Different routes for pharmaceutical peptides and proteins and superiority over other drugs candidates are presented. Recent advances based on various approaches like self-assembly of peptides and small molecules to form novel hydrogels are also discussed. The article will also review the literature concerning the classification of hydrogels on a different basis, polymers used, "release mechanisms" their physical and chemical characteristics and diverse applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the performance of a bipolar epitaxial graphene (EG)/p-SiC/n+-SiC UV phototransistor fabricated with a Schottky (EG)/SiC junction grown using a SiF4 precursor. The phototransistor showed responsivity as high as 25 A/W at 250 nm in the Schottky emitter (SE) mode. The Schottky collector (SC) mode showed a responsivity of 17 A/W at 270 nm with a visible rejection (270 nm:400 nm)>103. The fastest response was seen in the SC-mode, with 10ms turn-on and 47 ms turn-off, with a noise equivalent power of 2.3 fW at 20 Hz and a specific detectivity of 4.4 x 1013 Jones. The high responsivity is due to internal gain from bipolar action. We observe additional avalanche gain from the device periphery in the SC-mode by scanning photocurrent microscopy but not in the SE-mode. This high-performance visible-blind photodetector is attractive for advanced applications such as flame detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dwindling water resources combined with meeting the demands for food security require maximizing water use efficiency (WUE) both in rainfed and irrigated agriculture. In this regard, deficit irrigation (DI), defined as the administration of water below full crop-water requirements (evapotranspiration), is a valuable practice to contain irrigation water use. In this study, the mechanism of paclobutrazol (Pbz)-mediated improvement in tolerance to water deficit in tomato was thoroughly investigated. Tomato plants were subjected to normal irrigated and deficit irrigated conditions plus Pbz application (0.8 and 1.6 ppm). A comprehensive morpho-physiological, metabolomics and molecular analysis was undertaken. Findings revealed that Pbz application reduced plant height, improved stem diameter and leaf number, altered root architecture, enhanced photosynthetic rates and WUE of tomato plants under deficit irrigation. Pbz differentially induced expression of genes and accumulation of metabolites of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA-shunt pathway), glutathione ascorbate (GSH-ASC)-cycle, cell wall and sugar metabolism, abscisic acid (ABA), spermidine (Spd) content and expression of an aquaporin (AP) protein under deficit irrigation. Our results suggest that Pbz application could significantly improve tolerance in tomato plants under limited water availability through selective changes in morpho-physiology and induction of stress-related molecular processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose density independent hydrodynamics model (DIHM) which is a novel and automatic method for coherency detection in crowded scenes. One of the major advantages of the DIHM is its capability to handle changing density over time. Moreover, the DIHM avoids oversegmentation and thus achieves refined coherency detection. In the proposed DIHM, we first extract a motion flow field from the input video through particle initialization and dense optical flow. The particles of interest are then collected to retain only the most motile and informative particles. To represent each particle, we accumulate the contribution of each particle in a weighted form, based on a kernel function. Next, the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is adopted to detect coherent regions. Finally, the detected coherent regions are refined to remove the effects of oversegmentation. We perform extensive experiments on three benchmark datasets and compare the results with 10 state-of-the-art coherency detection methods. Our results show that DIHM achieves superior coherency detection and outperforms the compared methods in both pixel level and coherent region level average particle error rates (PERs), average coherent number error (CNE) and F-score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was conducted to explore the physicochemical characteristics, light and heavy metal concentrations in drinking water of the selected area of Lower Dir, Pakistan. In the study area, no such study about the assessment of drinking water quality has been carried out. The people of Lower Dir are unaware about the quality of water and adverse impacts of contaminated water. The research work will provide base for the awareness campaign regarding the importance of pure and safe drinking water quality.. For this purposes, the water samples (n=22) were collected and analyzed for various parameters. Among the physical parameters the pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), salinity and temperature, while in - chemical parameters the alkalinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), hardness, chlorides (Cl ), and sulfates were determined. Light metals such as magnesium (Mg+2), calcium (Ca+2), sodium (Na+2), and potassium (K+) and heavy metals included lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) were analyzed in the collected samples. The results showed that all the parameters were within the permissible limits set by World Health Organization (WHO) and Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) except hardness (351.44 mg/L). The light metals were within the permissible limit except Mg (308.60 mg/L) that exceeded the permissible limits of WHO and Pak-EPA, while Ca (53.71 mg/L) exceeded the permissible limit of WHO. The heavy metal results showed that all the metals were within permissible limit except Cr (0.18 mg/L) and Pb (0.04 mg/L). The health risk assessment like Average Daily Dose (ADD) and Hazard Quotient (HQ) were calculated for heavy metals. All heavy metals in drinking water samples indicated no health risk (CDI and HQ<1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mango is the second major fruit crop of Pakistan. A large number of unexplored indigenous mango germplasm with great economic significance is present in the country. Hence, 425 mango accessions were studied from Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) as well as Northern and Southern Punjab to explore the genetic diversity. Total 33 traits (25 qualitative and 8 quantitative) enabled the assessment of morphological and physico-chemical diversity of the studied indigenous mango germplasm. The first three principal components (PCs) contributed 68.06% variability among all mango accessions. The PCs also successfully grouped mango accessions according to their morphological and physico-chemical characteristics. Trunk height, tree circumference, crown diameter, leaf colour, leaf blade length, petiole length, inflorescence length, inflorescence width, fruit shape, fruit weight, soluble solid contents, titratable acidity, sugar:acid ratio, reducing sugars, non-reducing sugars and total sugars were found highly variable. Many of these characters are of substantial economic significance and could be used as breeding goals to increase the germplasm repository as well as fruit yield and quality. In conclusion, morphological and physico-chemical traits were highly useful for mango germplasm characterization. Several accessions also showed potentially good traits which could be used to develop new mango cultivars through future breeding schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetically modified, insect-resistant Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton is cultivated extensively in Pakistan. Past studies, however, have raised concerns about the prevalence of Bt cotton varieties possessing weak or nonperforming insect-resistance traits conferred by the cry gene. We examine this issue using data drawn from a representative sample of cotton-growing households that were surveyed in six agroclimatic zones spanning 28 districts in Pakistan in 2013, as well as measurements of Cry protein levels in cotton tissue samples collected from the sampled households’ main fields. The resultant dataset combines information from 593 sampled households with corresponding plant tissue diagnostics from 70 days after sowing, as well as information from 589 sampled households with corresponding diagnostics from 120 days after sowing. Our analysis indicates that 11 percent of farmers believed they were cultivating Bt cotton when, in fact, the Cry toxin was not present in the tested tissue at 70 days after sowing (i.e., a Type I error). The analysis further indicates that 5 percent of farmers believed they were cultivating non-Bt cotton when, in fact, the Cry toxin was present in the tested tissue (i.e., a Type II error). In addition, 17 percent of all sampled farmers were uncertain whether or not they were cultivating Bt cotton. Overall, 33 percent of farmers either did not know or were mistaken in their beliefs about the presence of the cry gene in the cotton they cultivated. Results also indicate that toxic protein levels in the plant tissue samples occurred below threshold levels for lethality in a significant percentage of cases, although these measurements may also be affected by factors related to tissue sample collection, handling, storage, and testing procedures. Nonetheless, results strongly suggest wide variability both in farmers’ beliefs and in gene expression. Such variability has implications for policy and regulation in Pakistan’s transgenic cotton seed market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Attabad landslide dam caused significant property losses and many human casualties in Pakistan, and also greatly affected the operation of the China-Pakistan Karakoram Highway (KKH). This paper discusses the risk of dam breach and hazards to the KKH project construction site following a dam breach. The paper examines the following three topics. (1) The geomorphologic dimensionless blockage index (DBI) and the analogy method were used to analyze the stability of the Attabad landslide dam. The long-term behaviors of landslide dams downstream of the Attabad landslide dam indicate that the risk of a dam breach exists, but the probability of a total dam failure is low. (2) The peak discharge of a potential breach of the Attabad landslide dam was calculated for scenarios in which 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, and total failure of the dam was breached. The potential breach discharge decreases with the downstream distance. (3) The potential impacts of the landslide dam breach on the KKH project construction site were analyzed. Based on the composition of the landslide dam, the probability of a 1/3 dam breach is high. To ensure the safety of downstream areas, disaster preparedness plans that correspond to the 1/2 dam breach scenario should be developed. Based on experience in addressing the landslide dam that was caused by the Wenchuan Earthquake, artificial controlled drainage measures are suggested and provide a technical reference for addressing the Attabad landslide dam and achieving recovery and normal operation of KKH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell suspension cultures were initiated from six month old ovule-derived embryogenic calli of two Citrus species named Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) Swingle cultivar Sweet lime and Citrus reticulata Blanco cultivar Kinnow. The growth rate of cells was observed on two different media MT basal medium + 0.5 g L-1 malt extract (EME) and MT containing half strength NH4NO3 and KNO3, supplemented with 1.55 g L-1 glutamine and 0.75 g L-1 KCl (H+H). Kinnow and Sweet lime cells showed a sigmoidal growth pattern on (H+H) and (EME) liquid media, when PCV was plotted against time. The logarithmic phase of cells started from 4th to 10th day and after that a stationary phase observed in cells with elongated vacuoles. This indicated that citrus cells active phase started soon after subculture and ends after two weeks. These embryogenic suspension cultures were later used for protoplast isolation which is a key step towards somatic hybridization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was conducted to explore the physicochemical characteristics, light and heavy metal concentrations in drinking water of the selected area of Lower Dir, Pakistan. In the study area, no such study about the assessment of drinking water quality has been carried out. The people of Lower Dir are unaware about the quality of water and adverse impacts of contaminated water. The research work will provide base for the awareness campaign regarding the importance of pure and safe drinking water quality. For this purposes, the water samples (n=22) were collected and analyzed for various parameters. Among the physical parameters the pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), salinity and temperature, while in chemical parameters the alkalinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), hardness, chlorides (Cl-), and sulfates were determined. Light metals such as magnesium (Mg+2), calcium (Ca+2), sodium (Na+), and potassium (K+) and heavy metals included lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) were analyzed in the collected samples. The results showed that all the parameters were within the permissible limits set by World Health Organization (WHO) and Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) except hardness (351.44 mg/L). The light metals were within the permissible limit except Mg+2 (308.60 mg/L) that exceeded the permissible limits of WHO and Pak-EPA, while Ca+2 (53.71 mg/L) exceeded the permissible limit of WHO. The heavy metal results showed that all the metals were within permissible limit except Cr (0.18 mg/L) and Pb (0.04 mg/L). The health risk assessment like Average Daily Dose (ADD) and Hazard Quotient (HQ) were calculated for heavy metals. All heavy metals in drinking water samples indicated no health risk (CDI and HQ<1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To further reduce the power dissipation in nanoscale transistors, the fundamental limit posed by the Boltzmann distribution of electrons has to be overcome. Stabilization of negative capacitance in a ferroelectric gate insulator can be used to achieve this by boosting the transistor gate voltage. Up to now, negative capacitance is only directly observed in polymer and perovskite ferroelectrics, which are incompatible with semiconductor manufacturing. Recently discovered HfO2-based ferroelectrics, on the other hand, are ideally suited for this application because of their high scalability and semiconductor process compatibility. Here, for the first time, a direct measurement of negative capacitance in polycrystalline HfO2-based thin films is reported. Decreasing voltage with increasing charge transients are observed in 18 and 27 nm thin Gd:HfO2 capacitors in series with an external resistor. Furthermore, a multigrain Landau-Khalatnikov model is developed to successfully simulate this transient behavior in polycrystalline ferroelectrics with nucleation limited switching dynamics. Structural requirements for negative capacitance in such materials are discussed. These results demonstrate that negative capacitance effects are not limited to epitaxial ferroelectrics, thus significantly extending the range of potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on mango production in Pakistan which was affected due to insect-pest infestation and several physiological disorders including mango quick wilt disease. Topics discussed include threats related to production and cultivation of quality mangoes, method of cultivar development which includes selection of chance seedlings from commercial cultivars and description of RYK-426 which is an early-season maturing genotype of southern Punjab.

Several advantageous features like low density, large surface area, high porosity and tight pore size make the nanofiber suitable for a wide range of applications from medical to consumer products and industrial to high-tech applications. Present study concerns the synthesis of hexagonal boron nitride fibers (Ø=70–350 nm) from a mixture of Boron, Magnesium oxide and Iron oxide powders via a simple CVD technique. A relatively long annealing and growth duration of two hours at 500 °C and 1000 °C, respectively were utilized in this synthesis. The synthesized samples seem to have the BNFs of irregular curved human hair-like morphologies in lower resolution and solid cylinder-like structures in high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The presence of Boron and Nitrogen in the synthesized BNF's sample were confirmed via the B 1s peak at 190.7 eV and N 1s peak at 398.3 eV in the XPS survey whereas a major peak at 1370 (cm −1 ) in the Raman spectrum corresponds to the vibration of E 2g mode in h-BN. The sharp peaks in the XRD pattern verify the h-BN phase and highly crystalline nature of the synthesized BNFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • GA/Fe 3 O 4 composite hydrogel Synthesis via co-precipitation method. • GA/Fe 3 O 4 was characterized by FTIR, XRD, EDX, VSM, SEM, and BET techniques. • Adsorption followed the pseudo second-order kinetic and freundlich isotherm model. • Adsorption reactions are favourable, spontaneous, and exothermic nature. • The composite hydrogel exhibited excellent desorption and recyclability. Release of industrial effluents comprising dyes in water bodies is one of the foremost causes of water pollution. Therefore, the proper and proficient treatment of these dyes contaminated left-over material before their release is crucial. Herein, an eco-friendly biological macromolecule Gum-Acacia (GA) integrated Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles composite hydrogel was manufactured via co-precipitation technique for effective adsorption of Congo red (CR) dye existing in water bodies. The as-prepared magnetic GA/Fe 3 O 4 composite hydrogel was characterized by FTIR, XRD, EDX, VSM, SEM, and BET techniques. These studies discovered the fruitful fabrication of biodegradable magnetic GA/Fe 3 O 4 composite hydrogel possessing porous structure with large surface area (21.78 m2/g) and enough saturated magnetization value (24.5 emu/g) for the efficient elimination of CR. The magnetic GA/Fe 3 O 4 composite hydrogel showed higher adsorption (96.3 %) of CR as compared to pristine Fe 3 O 4 (45 %) in 50 min at pH 6 with 0.02 g of adsorbent and 100 ppm CR. The data obtained from the adsorption of CR over GA/Fe 3 O 4 composite hydrogel have a linear relationship, following the pseudo second-order kinetic model (R2 = 0.990) and Freundlich adsorption isotherm model (R2 = 0.983). The evaluated factors of thermodynamic recommended that the experiments were favourable, spontaneous, and exothermic in nature. In addition, the biodegradable magnetic GA/Fe 3 O 4 composite hydrogel also exhibited excellent desorption as well as recyclability owing to its amazing robust magnetic nature. What is more, the GA/Fe 3 O 4 composite hydrogel reserved the same % adsorption proficiency (>96.3 %) up to several repeated rounds, proving its potential applicability for water purgative at domestic plus industrial level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Simultaneous extraction and determination of Ni (II) and Zn (II) in food samples. • Minimization of solvents consumption. • Selective extraction based on hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents. • Highly sensitive method at ppb (µg/Kg) level. • Universal sample preparation with easier and faster extraction procedure. A new approach was developed for the simultaneous pre-concentration and determination of Ni (II) and Zn (II) in food samples. This method is based on ultrasound-assisted liquid–liquid micro extraction using hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent (DES) and 1,10-phenanthroline as chelating agent. The effect of several parameters, such as pH, selection and volume of DES, amount of chelating agent, time of sonication and centrifugation, was studied. Under optimized conditions, the developed procedure offered exceptional sensitivity and linearity. The limit of detection was approximately 0.029 µg/Kg and 1.5 µg/Kg for Ni (II) and Zn (II), respectively. The proposed method was applied for the pre-concentration and determination of Ni (II) and Zn (II) in hydrogenated edible oils, fishes, and milk samples. The results of this study were compared with reported methods in the literature revealing its advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Several studies have found supplemental venous drainage channels in addition to bilateral internal jugular veins for cerebral venous efflux. We performed this study to characterize the supplemental venous outflow patterns in a consecutive series of patients undergoing detailed cerebral angiography with venous phase imaging.Methods: The venographic phase of the arteriogram was reviewed to identify and classify supplemental cerebral venous drainage into anterior (cavernous venous sinus draining into pterygoid plexus and retromandibular vein) and posterior drainage pattern. The posterior drainage pattern was further divided into plexiform pattern (with sigmoid venous sinus draining into the paravertebral venous plexus), and solitary vein pattern (dominant single draining deep cervical vein) drainage. The posterior plexiform pattern was further divided into 2 groups: posterior plexiform with or without prominent solitary vein.Results: Supplemental venous drainage was seen ipsilateral to internal jugular vein in 76 (43.7%) of 174 venous drainages (87 patients) analyzed. The patterns were anterior (n = 23, 13.2%), posterior plexiform without prominent solitary vein (n = 40, 23%), posterior plexiform with prominent solitary vein (n = 62, 35.6%), and posterior solitary vein alone (n = 3, 1.7%); occipital emissary veins and/or transosseous veins were seen in 1 supplemental venous drainage. Concurrent ipsilateral anterior and posterior supplemental drainage was seen in 6 of 174 venous drainages analyzed.Conclusions: We provide an assessment of patterns and rates of supplementary venous drainage to internal jugular veins to improve our understanding of anatomical and physiological aspects of cerebral venous drainage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basic leucine zipper protein refers to a grand transcriptional factor family of all eukaryotes that is involved in various developmental and stress responses like flower development, plant height, maturation of seeds, biotic and abiotic stress signaling. About 127 bZIPs in Arabidopsis, 70 in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), 266 in soybean (Glycine max), 47 in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), 70 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), 140 in rice, 102 in wheat and 218 in maize have been discovered. In this review, the classification of bZIP is according to the binding specificities of bZIPs as well as their role in transcription. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accumulation of total soluble and cell wall-bound phenolics and total soluble proteins inZea maysplants exposed to drought stress and foliar spray of salicylic acid (SA) at 10−4 mol/L and 10−5 mol/L was investigated. Drought stress was imposed at the four-leaf stage for 10 days (30–35% field capacity). Dehydration of maize leaves was accompanied by the accumulation of both total soluble and cell wall-bound phenolics, reduction in leaf relative water content (LRWC), and shoot and root growth attributes. Foliar spraying of SA further augmented the content of total soluble and cell wall-bound phenolics and total soluble proteins content under drought stress. SA ameliorated the adverse effects of drought stress on LRWC, shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight, root fresh weight, root dry weight, root length and root area. The accumulation of both soluble and cell wall-bound phenolics by foliar spray of SA may be a mechanism related to SA-induced drought stress tolerance in maize. It was concluded that foliar spraying of SA at 10−5 mol/L can be highly economical and effective for modifying the effects of drought stress on maize at the four-leaf stage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mesenchymal stem cells hold the promise to treat not only several congenital and acquired bone degenerative diseases but also to repair and regenerate morbid bone tissues. Utilizing MSCs, several lines of evidences advocate promising clinical outcomes in skeletal diseases and skeletal tissue repair/regeneration. In this context, both, autologous and allogeneic cell transfer options have been utilized. Studies suggest that MSCs are transplanted either alone by mixing with autogenous plasma/serum or by loading onto repair/induction supportive resorb-able scaffolds. Thus, this review is aimed at highlighting a wide range of pertinent clinical therapeutic options of MSCs in the treatment of skeletal diseases and skeletal tissue regeneration. Additionally, in skeletal disease and regenerative sections, only the early and more recent preclinical evidences are discussed followed by all the pertinent clinical studies. Moreover, germane post transplant therapeutic mechanisms afforded by MSCs have also been conversed. Nonetheless, assertive use of MSCs in the clinic for skeletal disorders and repair is far from a mature therapeutic option, therefore, posed challenges and future directions are also discussed. Importantly, for uniformity at all instances, term MSCs is used throughout the review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Camurati Engelmann's disease (CED) is a rare disorder worldwide with just over 200 cases reported. No case of CED has been reported in Afghanistan till date. It has been previously reported that domain specific mutations in transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 gene on chromosome 19q13.1 have been reported to cause this disorder. 1-3 Its pattern of inheritance is autosomal dominant with variable penetrance. 4 Most patients of CED (also known as progressive diaphyseal dysplasia (PDD), oeteopathica hyperostotica multiplex infantalis) present with extremity pain, muscle weakness and waddling gait. Symptomatology relating to cranial nerve impingement is secondary to amorphous increase in the density of skull bones resulting in stenosis of various foramina/spaces with in skull. It tends to be bilateral and symmetrical and can affect any bone but has greater affinity for long bones e.g. humerus, femur, tibia, ulna and radius. Other common sites include skull and pelvis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scarcity of in-situ observations coupled with high orographic influences has prevented a comprehensive assessment of precipitation distribution in the high-altitude catchments of Indus basin. Available data are generally fragmented and scattered with different organizations and mostly cover the valleys. Here, we combine most of the available station data with the indirect precipitation estimates at the accumulation zones of major glaciers to analyse altitudinal dependency of precipitation in the high-altitude Indus basin. The available observations signified the importance of orography in each sub-hydrological basin but could not infer an accurate distribution of precipitation with altitude. We used Kriging with External Drift (KED) interpolation scheme with elevation as a predictor to appraise spatiotemporal distribution of mean monthly, seasonal and annual precipitation for the period of 1998–2012. The KED-based annual precipitation estimates are verified by the corresponding basin-wide observed specific runoffs, which show good agreement. In contrast to earlier studies, our estimates reveal substantially higher precipitation in most of the sub-basins indicating two distinct rainfall maxima; 1st along southern and lower most slopes of Chenab, Jhelum, Indus main and Swat basins, and 2nd around north-west corner of Shyok basin in the central Karakoram. The study demonstrated that the selected gridded precipitation products covering this region are prone to significant errors. In terms of quantitative estimates, ERA-Interim is relatively close to the observations followed by WFDEI and TRMM, while APHRODITE gives highly underestimated precipitation estimates in the study area. Basin-wide seasonal and annual correction factors introduced for each gridded dataset can be useful for lumped hydrological modelling studies, while the estimated precipitation distribution can serve as a basis for bias correction of any gridded precipitation products for the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of cotton leaf curl disease in China, India and Pakistan is a recent phenomenon. Analysis of available sequence data determined that there is a substantial diversity of cotton-infecting geminiviruses in Pakistan. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that recombination between two major groups of viruses, cotton leaf curl Multan virus (CLCuMuV) and cotton leaf curl Kokhran virus (CLCuKoV), led to the emergence of several new viruses. Recombination detection programs and phylogenetic analyses showed that CLCuMuV and CLCuKoV are highly recombinant viruses. Indeed, CLCuKoV appeared to be a major donor virus for the coat protein (CP) gene, while CLCuMuV donated the Rep gene in the majority of recombination events. Using recombination free nucleotide datasets the substitution rates for CP and Rep genes were determined. We inferred similar nucleotide substitution rates for the CLCuMuV-Rep gene (4.96X10-4) and CLCuKoV-CP gene (2.706X10-4), whereas relatively higher substitution rates were observed for CLCuMuV-CP and CLCuKoV-Rep genes. The combination of sequences with equal and relatively low substitution rates, seemed to result in the emergence of viral isolates that caused epidemics in Pakistan and India. Our findings also suggest that CLCuMuV is spreading at an alarming rate, which can potentially be a threat to cotton production in the Indian subcontinent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Granular materials have vast applications both in industry and in daily life. They display quite interesting and exceptional properties different from the other known forms of matter. To investigate the complex properties of particulate materials, experimental, analytical, and numerical techniques have been employed. In this paper the results of experimental and numerical tests of various grain sizes and coefficient of friction between granules and cylindrical walls on the mass measured at bottom of container, known as apparent mass, are reported. It is revealed that apparent mass augments with the grain size. Moreover, it is also found that the variation in apparent mass measurement is strongly dependent on bead diameter rather than the silo size. The results suggest that the conversion of vertical stresses into horizontal in silo is mainly due to the friction between the grain and system boundary than the arching phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work is definitely an approach towards attaining price competency of bio-diesel to petroleum diesel. The oils extracted from abundantly available waste of Zahidi, Basra and Khazravi date seeds were used to produce biodiesel using acid (HCl), base (KOH), immobilized enzyme (lipase), immobilized enzyme/acid (lipase/HCl) and immobilized enzyme/base (lipase/KOH) catalyzed processes. Mixed catalysis (immobilized enzyme + acid or immobilized enzyme + base) resulted in better yields in comparison to acid or base catalysis. The properties of biodiesel were evaluated by fuel standard tests and the results were compared with EN14214 and ASTM D6751 standards. Biodiesel produced from date seed oil was found to have a high cetane number (55–60.3), low iodine value (44–50) and good flash point (135–140 °C). Pour point of pure biodiesel produced from Khazravi and Zahidi was found to range from 2 to −2 °C. Biodiesel produced from Basra exhibited good pour point (−4.7 to −8.3 °C) in comparison to other varieties. The components present in biodiesel produced from various date varieties were determined by gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analyses (GCMS). The fatty acid (%) detected in date seed biodiesel were oleic acid (33.4–47.4), lauric acid (19–28), palmitic acid (13.6–19.2), myristic acid (13.6–17.44) and linoleic acid (6.4–8.5). A special feature of date seed oil biodiesel was the presence of considerable amounts of low chain fatty acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

g-FLUA2H is a web-based application focused on the analysis of the dynamics of influenza virus animal-to-human (A2H) mutation transmissions. The application only requires the viral protein sequences from both the animal and human host populations as input datasets. The comparative analyses between the co-aligned sequences of the two viral populations is based on a sliding window approach of size nine for statistical significance and data application to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and T-cell receptor (TCR) immune response mechanisms. The sequences at each of the aligned overlapping nonamer positions for the respective virus hosts are classified as four patterns of characteristic diversity motifs, as a basis for quantitative analyses: (i) "index", the most prevalent sequence; (ii) "major" variant, the second most common sequence and the single most prevalent variant of the index, with at least one amino acid mutation; (iii) "minor" variants, multiple different sequences, each with an incidence (percent occurrence) less than that of the major variant; and (iv) "unique" variants, each with only one occurrence in the alignment. The diversity motifs and their incidences at each of the nonamer positions allow evaluation of the mutation transmission dynamics and selectivity of the viral sequences in relation to the animal and the human hosts. g-FLUA2H is facilitated by a grid back-end for parallel processing of large sequence datasets. The web-application is publicly available at http://bioinfo.perdanauniversity.edu.my/g-FLUA2H. It can be used for a detailed characterization of the composition and incidence of mutations present in the proteomes of influenza viruses from animal and human host populations, for a better understanding of host tropism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity is one of the main constraints for agriculture sector in many countries. It pushes the farmers to use wastewater for irrigation as an available alternate, especially in peri-urban areas of developing countries. One of the drawbacks of using wastewater for irrigation is heavy metal pollution in the soil and water along with the toxic elements which enter into the food chain. This study aims at to obtain information about the socio-economic reasons for using wastewater from the farmers’ perspective and analyze the accumulation of heavy metals in wastewater, canal water, underground water, soil and crops, irrigated with wastewater. Two contrasting views were observed among the farmers about wastewater irrigation. Over 90% preferred to use wastewater due to its low cost and rich source of nutrients. Although, farmers know that wastewater irrigation have serious negative effects on human health and the quality of the ground water, they prefer to use it for lowering the cost of production and overcome the scarcity of canal water. The findings of this study showed that, ground water and canal water have more accumulation of Cr, Mn, Pb and Zn than the recommended safe limits. None of the water samples collected from different sources was found to be safe for irrigation due to heavy metal contamination. Wastewater irrigated crops and vegetables were also analyzed to determine the bioaccumulation of heavy metals. Concentrations of Cr, Mn, Pb and Zn were observed more than safe limits in all the analyzed vegetables (spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, mustard leaves and round gourd) and crops (berseem, sorghum, maize, rice, wheat, lucerne, sugarcane). This study showed that poor economic conditions force the farmers to not only sacrifice their own health but also the health of consumers of these crops and vegetables by using wastewater for irrigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult Onset Still's disease (AOSD) is an inflammatory disorder characterized by quotidian (daily) fevers, arthritis, and an evanescent rash. It is a rare inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology. Due to lack of definitive diagnostic test, the diagnosis of AOSD can only be made after exclusion of other causes. We report a 46 year old male Indian patient who was admitted in our hospital with intermittent high grade fever, rash and polyarthritis for one month. History, examination and laboratory investigations fulfilled the Yamaguchi criteria for AOSD. The patient was treated with steroids and nonsteriodal anti-inflammatory drugs to which he responded and is completely free of symptoms. The authors here present a case of adult onset Still's disease, and highlights the utility of high serum ferritin in identifying this febrile exanthema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Author Contributions Conceptualization, S.R., W.K.K. and B.M.; data curation, S.R.; formal analysis, S.R., N.A. and M.K.O.; funding acquisition, M.K.O.; investigation, S.R.; methodology, S.R.; project administration, B.M.; software, A.K.; supervision, B.M.; validation, I.A.A.; visualization, R.M. and S.A.A., writing - original draft, S.R. and W.K.K.; writing - review and editing, Y.A.A. and B.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. The authors of this paper [[1]] have agreed that they would like to add Waqas Khan Kayani as a co-author, as he contributed to the generation of whole plants from transgenic hairy roots of I Ajuga bracteosa i and to the writing the original manuscript. The authors apologize for any inconvenience caused and state that the scientific conclusions are unaffected. [Extracted from the article]

Correlation-based network analysis (CNA) of the metabolic profiles of seeds of a tomato introgression line mapping population revealed a clique of proteinogenic amino acids: Gly, Ile, Pro, Ser, Thr, and Val. Correlations between profiles of these amino acids exhibited a statistically significant average correlation coefficient of 0.84 as compared with an average correlation coefficient of 0.39 over the 16 119 other metabolite cliques containing six metabolites. In silico removal of cliques was used to quantify their importance in determining seminal network properties, highlighting the strong effects of the amino acid clique. Quantitative trait locus analysis revealed co-localization for the six amino acids on chromosome 2, 4 and 10. Sequence analysis identified a unique set of 10 genes on chromosome 2 only, which were associated with amino acid metabolism and specifically the metabolism of Ser-Gly and their conversion into branched-chain amino acids. Metabolite profiling of a set of sublines, with introgressions on chromosome 2, identified a significant change in the abundance of the six amino acids in comparison with M82. Expression analysis of candidate genes affecting Ser metabolism matched the observation from the metabolite data, suggesting a coordinated behavior of the level of these amino acids at the genetic level. Analysis of transcription factor binding sites in the promoter regions of the identified genes suggested combinatorial response to light and the circadian clock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil salinity among other abiotic stresses is a major threat to cultivated land. Breeding salt tolerant cultivars has always been thought to be an effective and cheaper way to overcome salinity problem. Salt tolerant and salt sensitive wheat accessions were hybridized to develop genetic material to investigate inheritance of salt tolerance based on early seedling, adult plant and physiological responses. Salt tolerance in low salinity appeared to be a complex polygenic trait. However, genetic models for most responses were poor fit in high salinity and suggested further investigations. Differences in gene expressions in different NaCl concentrations appeared to be due to different gene regulation or interaction and/or involvement of additional or hidden genes. Both additive and non-additive gene effects required to be considered while designing of breeding programme for improving salt tolerance in wheat and in the statistical model used to find QTL for the salt tolerance. This QTL couple with recurrent selection for specific combining ability of the 4WLRG/1-8 with an excellent cultivar of wheat appears to be a good salt tolerant breeding strategy. © 2014 Friends Science Publishers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The small scale nanomaterial׳s such as quantum dots and nanoparticles, which have unique properties studied under varying conditions. Various techniques were used in order to best understand the structure of ZnO nanoparticles and quantum dots, which inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli bacteria under dose dependent manner. The results of obtained datas were confirmed with statistical analytical methods. The linear regressive equation data obtained from UV–visible spectra, which give satisfactory results and allows to quickly and easily calculate statistical datas such as: concentration range of analytes, mean, standard deviation, variance and standard analytical error, relative standard deviation, coefficient of correlation, variance of regression line errors in the slope and the intercept, confidence limit for the slope and the intercept. Instead, validation is an important trait measure by any methods due to near to the quality of results. The proposed method validated by specificity, precision, accuracy, limit detection and quantitation. The absorption spectra of sample solution were recorded maximum absorbance for both nanoparticles (NPs) and quantum dots (QDs) at ʎ max 600nm, this wavelength was suitable and selected for all operational analytical measurements. The size and shape of the prepared NPs and QDs were examined with sophisticated instruments such as FESEM and TEM, whereas crystallinity of the prepared materials was analyzed with X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]