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Academic life in the present era is subject to several occupational stressors, including increased workloads, reduced research funding, tenuous career paths, and family-work conflicts. Such stressors affect academics' quality of life, wellbeing, and job satisfaction, and women are particularly vulnerable. There is, however, a dearth of information on such issues in the Arab World. We conducted a scoping review to map the current body of knowledge related to the institutional and socio-cultural factors that influence the wellbeing status of women working in academia in Arab countries. Fourteen articles were included. Several challenges threatening women's wellbeing in academia were identified including institutional factors (i.e., human resource policies and laws, workplace empowerment, and academic mentoring) and socio-cultural factors (i.e., work-life balance, culture and religion). Current human resources, policies, and labor laws do not adequately support maternal or complex family roles contributing to work-life imbalances and contribute to poor mental health outcomes for academic women working in academia in Arab countries. Although some of these challenges may stem from lingering cultural stereotypes about gender roles, this review highlights the need for professional development and mentoring programs for academic women in Arab countries, in addition to supportive institutional laws, policies, and resources for empowerment of women in academia.

Sex and racial diversity is becoming an increasingly important topic in today's society. American studies have reported a deficit of women and racial minorities among physicians, including those in leadership [...], To ensure equitable representation of women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, person of colour) individuals in surgical specialties, it is first necessary to understand the presence and extent of the disparities that exist. We explored the websites of the 17 Canadian faculties of medicine to examine sex and racial diversity in surgical specialties and in surgical leadership positions in Canada. We categorized faculty members of each department of surgery as either male or female and White or BIPOC. The relative percentage of female academic surgeons was very low compared with Canadian demographic data, and the relative percentage of BIPOC academic surgeons was similar to Canadian demographic data. Our observations suggest that actions must be taken to improve diversity and inclusion in surgery.

Rahim H, Sadiq A, Ullah R, et al. Int J Nanomedicine. 2020;15:8999–9009. We, the Editors and Publisher of International Journal of Nanomedicine, have retracted the following article. Following publication of the article, concerns were raised regarding the duplication of an image from Figure 3 with an image from an unrelated article. Specifically, The TEM image for Figure 3B has been duplicated with the TEM image for Figure 3B from Rahim H, Sadiq A, Khan S, et al. Aceclofenac nanocrystals with enhanced in vitro, in vivo performance: formulation optimization, characterization, analgesic and acute toxicity studies. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2017;11:2443–2452. https://doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S140626. In addition, it also appears that features of the image presented in Figure 3B were not part of the original image. The authors did respond to our queries but were unable to provide a sufficient explanation for the duplicated images or provide the original TEM images for the study. As verifying the validity of published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article and the authors do not agree with this decision. We have been informed in our decision-making by our editorial policies and COPE guidelines. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.

Ghadir Fakhri Al-Jayyousi, Hanan Abdul Rahim, Diana Alsayed Hassan, Sawsan Mohammed Awada Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, QatarCorrespondence: Ghadir Fakhri Al-JayyousiDepartment of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, QU Health, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, QatarEmail g.aljayyousi@qu.edu.qaBackground: There is an accelerating need for interprofessional education (IPE) in the Public Health field, as healthcare providers become diverse and multi-disciplinary. Public Health students with health education concentration at Qatar University are required to join training sessions in IPE before the start of their field experience, where students are placed in a variety of community-based and clinical settings including, but not limited to, primary healthcare.Purpose: The goal of this qualitative research study is to understand health education students’ experience in interprofessional care during their field experience in a primary healthcare setting and to highlight the successes and challenges.Patients and Methods: Participants were third-year health education students (N = 22) enrolled in the Public Health program at Qatar University who obtained their experiential learning in three different primary health care centers. Students’ weekly reports reflecting on primary interprofessional care were included in the analysis for the purpose of this study. Following constant comparative techniques, thematic analysis was conducted on health education students’ reports.Results: Interprofessional care was witnessed and practiced by students in teamwork and collaboration for the benefit of the patient, communication among health care professionals and referral process and patient flow. Health education students understood their role in interprofessional care in the fields of behavior change, and patient education and empowerment. However, professionals and patients were not recognizing health educators’ role and were not familiar with their contributions to interprofessional care in primary healthcare. Students suggested delivering interprofessional education for health care providers to enhance collaborative teamwork and promote knowledge about the evolving health education field among healthcare providers in Qatar. In addition, they recommended orienting their training supervisors about the goal of IPE-based practice in a primary healthcare setting.Conclusion: Interprofessional care was observed and practiced by health education students through collaborative teamwork, communication among health care professionals and management of patient flow. However, they faced challenges during their practice-based IPE. The findings can be tailored towards planning for interprofessional education workshops to boost collaboration progress among health care providers including health educators and supporting professionals interested to implement practice-based IPE in their placement curriculums.Keywords: interprofessional collaboration, communication, health education, public health, primary care, field experience

Haroon Rahim,1 Abdul Sadiq,2 Riaz Ullah,3 Ahmed Bari,4 Fazli Amin,1 Umar Farooq,5 Naeem Ullah Jan,1 Hafiz Majid Mahmood6 1Department of Pharmacy, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; 2Department of Pharmacy, University of Malakand, Chakdara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; 3Department of Pharmacognosy (MAPPRC), College of Pharmacy, King Saud University Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 5Legacy Pharmaceutical (Pvt.) Ltd., Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; 6Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Haroon RahimDepartment of Pharmacy, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology Peshawar, Peshawar 25000, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PakistanTel +92 332 946 1642Email hrahimpk@gmail.comPurpose: The aim of the studies was to fabricate aceclofenac (AC) tablets using nanosuspension as granulating fluid to boost its rate of in vitro dissolution and eventually its oral bioavailability.Methods: The optimized nanosuspension with particle size of 112± 2.01 nm was fabricated using HPMC 1% (w/v), PVP-K30 1% (w/v) and SLS 0.12% (w/v) at 400 watts of ultrasonication energy for 15 min duration and 3 sec pause. Then, the optimized aceclofenac nanosuspension was used as granulating fluid for aceclofenac tablets formulation. The characterization was performed using Malvern zetasizer, SEM, TEM, DSC and P-XRD. The granules were evaluated for the bulk and tapped densities, Hausner’s ratio, angle of repose and their resulted values were found within limit. The prepared tablets were tested for average weight, hardness, friability, disintegration, dissolution and in vivo bioavailability in rabbits.Results: The in vitro dissolution data showed the boosted rate of nanosuspension-based tablets compared to the microsuspension-based tablets. The in vivo bioavailability (in rabbits model) of aceclofenac nanosuspension-based tablets (ACN-1, ACN-2) proved an improved absorption as in comparison to the marketed formulation. The Cmax and AUC0→ 24 of ACN-1 and ACN-2 were 1.53-fold, 1.48-fold and 2.23-fold, 2.0-fold greater than that of the marketed drug, and were 1.74-fold, 1.68-fold and 2.3-fold, 2.21-fold greater in comparison to raw drug.Conclusion: This boosted in vitro and in vivo bioavailability may be attributed to reduced particle size of aceclofenac nanoformulations used in tablets. Finally, this will result in faster absorption of these fabricated tablets.Keywords: nanosuspension-based tablets, release kinetics, enhanced oral bioavailability

Rahim H, Sadiq A, Khan S, et al. Int J Nanomedicine. 2019;14:6287-6296. The Editor and Publisher of International Journal of Nanomedicine wish to retract the published article. Concerns were raised about the alleged duplication of regions within the image used in Figure 4A. The authors did respond to our queries but were unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for the alleged duplication. In addition, further analysis of the original image used in Figure 4A indicates that regions within the image may have been altered. The Editor determined that the findings reported in the article were unreliable and requested for the article to be retracted. The authors were notified of this. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.

Abstract Background Tanzania has witnessed a significant decrease in the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and viral hepatitis in the general population attributed to several interventional measures. It is uncertain whether this decline has also occurred among people who inject drugs (PWID). This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HIV, Hepatitis B and C viruses infection among PWID recruited from their hotspot sites in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methods A cross-sectional study conducted between June and September 2017 recruited PWID from pre-identified hotspot sites using a snowball referral sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information regarding socio-demographic characteristics, behaviour and drug use. Blood was tested for the presence of IgG antibodies against HIV and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Data were entered in the computer using excel software and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. Results A total of 219 PWID were recruited, the majority of whom were males (74.9%), unmarried (60.7%), had low education (62.6%) and low income (57.1%). The median age was 39 years, with an inter-quartile range of 35–43. Approximately 32.0% had a history of drug injection for more than 3 years, 79.9% were injecting drugs more than 3 times per day and 47.5% were sharing needles. The overall prevalence of HIV, HBsAg, and HCV was 33.8, 7.8, and 50.2%, respectively. There was serologic evidence of at least one infection for 68.9%, while 22.4% had two or more infections. HIV infection was independently associated with being married, while HCV was associated with injecting drugs for more than 3 years and unprotected sex. Conclusion Over two-third of PWID had serologic evidence of infection with at least one virus while 22.4% having at least two infections. The high prevalence of HIV and viral hepatitis infections among PWID may hamper initiatives of ending HIV and viral hepatitis epidemics in Tanzania.

Ashfaq Ahmad,1 Farhat Ullah,1 Abdul Sadiq,1 Muhammad Ayaz,1 Haroon Rahim,2 Umer Rashid,3 Sajjad Ahmad,1 Muhammad Saeed Jan,1 Riaz Ullah,4 Abdelaat A Shahat,4,5 Hafiz Majid Mahmood6 1Department of Pharmacy, University of Malakand, Chakdara, Dir (L), KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 18000, Pakistan; 2Department of Pharmacy, Sarhad University of Science & Information Technology, Peshawar, KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Pakistan; 3Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Pakistan; 4Department of Pharmacognosy (MAPPRC), College of Pharmacy, King Saud University Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 5Phytochemistry Department, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt; 6Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Haroon Rahim; Abdul SadiqDepartment of Pharmacy, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology Peshawar, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; Department of Pharmacy, University of Malakand Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Chakdara 18800, PakistanTel +92-3329461642; +92-301-2297102Email hrahimpk@gmail.com, sadiquom@yahoo.comPurpose: The current work was designed to synthesize a bioactive derivative of succinimide and evaluate it for anti-Alzheimer, anticancer and anti-diabetic potentials.Methods: The compound was synthesized by Michael addition of butyraldehyde with N-phenylmaleimide. The synthesized compound was screened for biological potentials including anti-cholinesterase, in-vitro anti-diabetic, antioxidant and anthelmintic potentials. The anti-cholinesterase potential was evaluated against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), anti-diabetic potential against α-glucosidase, antioxidant potential against ABTS, DPPH and H2O2 and anthelmintic potential against Perethima posthuma and Ascaridia galli respectively.Results: The compound demonstrated significant AChE and BChE inhibition i.e., 71.34±1.92 and 73.42 ±1.92 at the concentration of 1000 μg/mL respectively. Other dilutions exhibited concentration-dependent inhibitory activity against both enzymes. In the MTT assay, the newly synthesized compound was found active against all of the cell lines viz, HCT-116, MDA-MB231, NIH/3T3 and MCF-7 and the highest cytotoxicity potential was observed against the colon cancer cell line (HCT-116) with an IC50 value of 78 μg/mL exhibiting its highest potential. Moreover, the compound exhibited prominent α-glucosidase inhibitory potentials (79.86±2.54% at 1000 μg/mL) with IC50 value of 156.23 μg/mL. Further, our test compound exhibited considerable scavenging activity against DPPH, ABTS and H2O2 free radicals with percent inhibitions of 75.84±1.58, 72.85±1.17 and 54.82±1.82 and IC50 values of 84.36, 139.74 and 752.21 μg/mL respectively. Our test sample exhibited significant anthelmintic potentials. It demonstrated significant paralysis and death of the test worms in an unbelievably short time in comparison with albendazole.Conclusion: Going into the detail of all observations, it may be deduced that the newly synthesized succinimide derivative could be an important drug candidate against neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes mellitus and worms. Further detailed studies in animal models are required for in-vivo analysis of the compound.Keywords: Succinimide, Alzheimer’s disease, MTT, oxidative stress, diabetes, helminthiasis

Haroon Rahim,1 Abdul Sadiq,2 Shahzeb Khan,2–4 Fazli Amin,1 Riaz Ullah,5 Abdelaaty A Shahat,5,6 Hafiz Majid Mahmood71Department of Pharmacy, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 25000, Pakistan; 2Department of Pharmacy, University of Malakand, Chakdara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18800, Pakistan; 3Discipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4000, South Africa; 4Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; 5Department of Pharmacognosy (MAPPRC), College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 6Phytochemistry Department, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt; 7Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaPurpose: We aimed to enhance the solubility, dissolution rate, oral bioavailability, and α-glucosidase inhibition of glimepiride (Glm) by fabricating its nanosuspension using a precipitation–ultrasonication approach.Methods: Glm nanosuspensions were fabricated using optimized processing conditions. Characterization of Glm was performed using Malvern Zetasizer, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and powder X-ray diffraction. Minimum particle size and polydispersity index (PDI) values were found to be 152.4±2.42 nm and 0.23±0.01, respectively, using hydroxypropyl methylcellulose: 6 cPs, 1% w/v, polyvinylpyrrolidone K30 1% w/v, and sodium lauryl sulfate 0.12% w/v, keeping ultrasonication power input at 400 W, with 15 minutes’ processing at 3-second pauses. In vivo oral bioavailability was assessed using rabbits as a model.Results: The saturation solubility of the Glm nanosuspensions was substantially enhanced 3.14-fold and 5.77-fold compared to unprocessed drug in stabilizer solution and unprocessed active pharmaceutical ingredient. Also, the dissolution rate of the nanosuspensions ws substantially boosted when compared to the marketed formulation and unprocessed drug candidate. The results showed that >85% of Glm nanosuspensions dissolved in the first 10 minutes compared to 10.17% of unprocessed Glm), 42.19% of microsuspensions, and 19.94% of marketed tablets. In-vivo studies conducted in animals, i.e. rabbits, demonstrated that maximum concentration and AUC0–24 with oral dosing were twofold (5 mg/kg) and 1.74-fold (2.5 mg/kg) and 1.80-fold (5 mg/kg) and 1.63-fold (2.5 mg/kg), respectively, and compared with the unprocessed drug formulation. In-vitro α-glucosidase inhibition results showed that fabricated nanosuspensions had a pronounced effect compared to unprocessed drug.Conclusion: The optimized batch fabricated by ultrasonication-assisted precipitation can be useful in boosting oral bioavailability, which may be accredited to enhanced solubility and dissolution rate of Glm, ultimately resulting in its faster rate of absorption due to nanonization.Keywords: glimepiride nanosuspension, precipitation–ultrasonication approach, boosted bioavailability

يقع مجرى نهر دجلة القديم بين ثلاث محافظات (واسط – ميسان- ذي قار) اذ يحيط بها من الشرق والشمال نهر دجلة الحالي، ومن الغرب نهر الغراف ومن الجنوب نهر الفرات، وتبلغ مساحة منطقة الدراسة (16473.2كم2)، وامتاز نهر دجلة في منطقة الدراسة المحددة بعدم استقراره في مجراه عبر الزمن، منذ البلايستوسين وحتى العهد الساساني. وكان اخر تغير له في اواخر العهد الساساني، حيث انتقل المجرى من مجراه الاصلي الذي كان يجري فيه عبر الكوت الى الناصرية الى مجراه الحالي من الكوت الى العمارة.

Fazli Amin,1 Shahzeb Khan,1,2 Syed Muhammad Hassan Shah,3 Haroon Rahim,3 Zahid Hussain,4 Muhammad Sohail,5 Riaz Ullah,6,7 Mansour S Alsaid,6 Abdelaaty A Shahat6,8 1Department of Pharmacy, University of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; 2Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu Natal, Westville 4000, Durban South Africa; 3Department of Pharmacy, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; 4Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia; 5Department of Pharmacy, COMSATS, Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; 6Medicinal, Aromatic & Poisonous Plants Research Center (MAPPRC), College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Chemistry, Government College Ara Khel FR, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; 8Phytochemistry Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt Background: The obnoxious bitter taste of orally taken antibiotics is one of the biggest problems in the treatment of children. The pediatric population cannot tolerate the bitter taste of drugs and vomit out which ultimately leads to suboptimal therapeutic value, grimace and mental stress so it is the challenging task for the formulation scientists to formulate a palatable formulation particularly to overcome address the issue. Purpose of study: The study aimed to mask and evaluate the unpleasant bitter taste of azithro­mycin (AZ) in the dry suspension dosage form by physisorption technique. Materials and methods: AZ was selected as an adsorbent and titanium dioxide nanoparticles as adsorbate. The AZ nanohybrids (AZN) were prepared by treating fixed amount of adsorbent with a varied amount of adsorbate, prepared separately by dispersing it in an aqueous medium. The mixture was sonicated, stirred followed by filtration and drying. The AZN produced were characterized by various techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-rays (EDX), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), HPLC and Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR). The optimized nanohybrid was blended with other excipients to get stable and taste masked dry suspension dosage form.Results: The results confirmed the adsorption of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on the surface of AZ. The fabricated optimized formulation was subjected for taste masking by panel testing and accelerated stability studies. The results showed a remarkable improvement in bitter taste masking, inhibiting throat bite without affecting the dissolution rate. The product showed an excellent stability both in dry and reconstituted suspension. The optimized formulation of AZN and was found stable when subjected to physical and chemical stability studies, this is because of short and single step process which interns limits the exposure of the product to various environmental factors that could potentially affect the stability of the product. The dissolution rate of the optimized formulation of AZN was compared with its marketed counterpart, showing the same dissolution rate compared to its marketed formulation.Conclusion: The current study concludes that, by fabricating AZ-titanium nanohybrids using physisorption can effectively mask the bitter taste of the drug. The palatability and stability of azithromycin formulation was potentially enhanced without affecting its dissolution rate. Keywords: azithromycin, AZ, titanium dioxide nanoparticles, TNPs, azithromycin–TiO2 nanohybrid, AZN, dissolution, physisorption

Haroon Rahim,1 Abdul Sadiq,1 Shahzeb Khan,1 Mir Azam Khan,1 Syed Muhammad Hassan Shah,2 Zahid Hussain,3 Riaz Ullah,4 Abdelaaty Abdelaziz Shahat,4,5 Khalid Ibrahim6 1Department of Pharmacy, University of Malakand, Chakdara, 2Department of Pharmacy, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; 3Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics, Universiti Teknologi, Mara, Selangor, Malaysia; 4Department of Pharmacognosy and Medicinal, Aromatic and Poisonous Plants Research Center, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 5Phytochemistry Department, National Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt; 6Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Al-Muzahmeiah Branch, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Abstract: This study was aimed to enhance the dissolution rate, oral bioavailability and analgesic potential of the aceclofenac (AC) in the form of nanosuspension using cost-effective simple precipitation–ultrasonication approach. The nanocrystals were produced using the optimum conditions investigated for AC. The minimum particle size (PS) and polydispersity index was found to be 112±2.01 nm and 0.165, respectively, using hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (1%, w/w), polyvinylpyrrolidone K30 (1%, w/w) and sodium lauryl sulfate (0.12%, w/w). The characterization of AC was performed using zeta sizer, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. The saturation solubility of the AC nanocrystals was substantially increased 2.6- and 4.5-fold compared to its unprocessed active pharmaceutical ingredient in stabilizer solution and unprocessed drug. Similarly, the dissolution rate of the AC nanocrystals was substantially enhanced compared to its other counterpart. The results showed that >88% of AC nanocrystals were dissolved in first 10 min compared to unprocessed AC (8.38%), microsuspension (66.65%) and its marketed tablets (17.65%). The in vivo studies of the produced stabilized nanosuspension demonstrated that the Cmax were 4.98- and 2.80-fold while area under curve from time of administration to 24 h (AUC0→24 h) were found 3.88- and 2.10-fold greater when compared with unprocessed drug and its marketed formulation, respectively. The improved antinociceptive activity of AC nanocrystals was shown at much lower doses as compared to unprocessed drug, which is purely because of nanonization which may be attributed to improved solubility and dissolution rate of AC, ultimately resulting in its faster rate of absorption. Keywords: aceclofenac nanocrystals, precipitation–ultrasonication, dissolution rate, in vivo studies

Rahim H, Sadiq A, Khan S, et al. Int J Nanomedicine. 2019;14:6287–6296. The authors have advised there is an error in Figure 4 on page 6292. The unit in part B shows “μm” it should read “nm”. The correct Figure 4 is shown below. The authors apologize for this error. Read the original article

How traits at multiple levels of biological organization evolve in a correlated fashion in response to directional selection is poorly understood, but two popular models are the very general "behavior evolves first" (BEF) hypothesis and the more specific "morphology-performance-behavior-fitness" (MPBF) paradigm. Both acknowledge that selection often acts relatively directly on behavior and that when behavior evolves, other traits will as well but most with some lag. However, this proposition is exceedingly difficult to test in nature. Therefore, we studied correlated responses in the high-runner (HR) mouse selection experiment, in which four replicate lines have been bred for voluntary wheel-running behavior and compared with four nonselected control (C) lines. We analyzed a wide range of traits measured at generations 20–24 (with a focus on new data from generation 22), coinciding with the point at which all HR lines were reaching selection limits (plateaus). Significance levels (226 P values) were compared across trait types by ANOVA, and we used the positive false discovery rate to control for multiple comparisons. This meta-analysis showed that, surprisingly, the measures of performance (including maximal oxygen consumption during forced exercise) showed no evidence of having diverged between the HR and C lines, nor did any of the life history traits (e.g., litter size), whereas body mass had responded (decreased) at least as strongly as wheel running. Overall, results suggest that the HR lines of mice had evolved primarily by changes in motivation rather than performance ability at the time they were reaching selection limits. In addition, neither the BEF model nor the MPBF model of hierarchical evolution provides a particularly good fit to the HR mouse selection experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthy or good quality soils are essential for ecosystems to remain intact or recover from disturbances. Soil quality is soil- and site-specific and can vary according to controlling factors, such as inherent soil properties. The research proposal was conducted in 2015-2016 to study soil physio-chemical properties across seven elevations and the River Swat catchment area between Barikot and Topsin in Swat-district, Pakistan. The sampling date was March 11-12, 2016, to better evaluate soil classification. Soil samples were collected and analyzed for their physicochemical properties, including surface, sub-soil, and sub-strata. The data showed that silt content decreased, and clay content increased with altitude, while sand content showed inconsistent variation. Bulk density, lime content, electric conductivity, and pH decreased, while concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), and micro-nutrients increased. Soil organic matter (SOM) content significantly increased (P<0.05) as the altitude increased. Soil samples were non-saline (EC<4 dSm-1) and slightly calcareous (lime content 2.34% to 5.32%). Higher altitudes increase micro-nutrient content and water retention, while lower elevations decrease water retention. We found that crop available P in all selected sites along the altitude were deficient, classified as P deficient soil. All physicochemical properties were within the range of crop demands, so sustainable management practices are needed to build soil P levels that meet crop requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was carried out to evaluate the bacteriological status of fresh Tilapia nilotica, fresh Clarias lazera, frozen Mackerel and smoked Herring fish marketed in Beni-Suef City. The collected samples were examined for total bacterial count, coli form (MPN), faecal coli forms (MPN), E. coli (MPN), Staphylococcus aureus count, total proteolytic count, total lipolytic count, Aeromonas count and Pseudomonas count, as well as the isolation of E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Aeromonas hydrophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Yersinia enterocolitica and Listeria monocytogenes. Most of the examined samples were within the permissible limits recommended by EOS and ICMSF, few samples of fresh Clarias lazera exceeded the recommended limits. The economic importance and public health significance of the isolated organisms were discussed.