Integrated assessment of groundwater quality dynamics and Land use/land cover changes in rapidly urbanizing semi-arid region.

Rapid urbanization worldwide, poses numerous environmental challenges between escalating land use land cover (LULC) changes and groundwater quality dynamics. The main objective of this study was to investigate the dynamics of groundwater quality and LULC changes in Sargodha district, Punjab, Pakistan. Groundwater hydrochemistry reveals acceptable pH levels (<8) but total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC) and HCO3- showed dynamic fluctuations by exceeding WHO limits. Piper diagrams, indicated dominance by magnesium and bicarbonate types, underscoring the influence of natural processes and anthropogenic activities. Major ion relationships in 2010, 2015, and 2021 showed a high correlation (R2 > 0.85) between Na+ and Cl-, suggesting salinization. whereas, the poor correlation (<0.17) between Ca2+ and HCO3- does not support calcite dissolution as the primary process affecting groundwater composition. The examination of nitrate contamination in groundwater across the years 2010, 2015, and 2021 was found to be high in the municipal sewage zone, suggesting a prevailing issue of nitrate contamination attributed to urban activities. The Nitrate Pollution Index (NPI) reveals a concerning trend, with a higher proportion of samples classified under moderate to high pollution categories in 2015 and 2021 compared to 2010. The qualitative assessment of nitrate concentration on spatiotemporal scale showed lower values in 2010 while a consistent rise from 2015 to 2021 in north-east and western parts of district. Likewise, NPI was high in the north-eastern and south-western regions in 2010, then reduced in subsequent years, which may be attributed to effective waste management practices and alterations in agricultural practices. The health risk assessment of 2010 indicated Total Health Hazard Quotient (THQ) within the standard limit, while in 2015 and 2021, elevated health risk was observed. This study emphasizes the need to use multiple approaches to groundwater management for sustainable land use planning and regulations that prioritize groundwater quality conservation.

A Hybrid Approach for Energy Consumption and Improvement in Sensor Network Lifespan in Wireless Sensor Networks.

In this paper, we propose an improved clustering algorithm for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) that aims to increase network lifetime and efficiency. We introduce an enhanced fuzzy spider monkey optimization technique and a hidden Markov model-based clustering algorithm for selecting cluster heads. Our approach considers factors such as network cluster head energy, cluster head density, and cluster head position. We also enhance the energy-efficient routing strategy for connecting cluster heads to the base station. Additionally, we introduce a polling control method to improve network performance while maintaining energy efficiency during steady transmission periods. Simulation results demonstrate a 1.2% improvement in network performance using our proposed model.

Hydrogeochemistry and prediction of arsenic contamination in groundwater of Vehari, Pakistan: comparison of artificial neural network, random forest and logistic regression models.

Arsenic contamination in the groundwater occurs in various parts of the world due to anthropogenic and natural sources, adversely affecting human health and ecosystems. The current study intends to examine the groundwater hydrogeochemistry containing elevated arsenic (As), predict As levels in groundwater, and determine the aptness of groundwater for drinking in the Vehari district, Pakistan. Four hundred groundwater samples from the study region were collected for physiochemical analysis. As levels in groundwater samples ranged from 0.1 to 52 µg/L, with an average of 11.64 µg/L, (43.5%), groundwater samples exceeded the WHO 2022 recommended limit of 10 µg/L for drinking purposes. Ion-exchange processes and the adsorption of ions significantly impacted the concentration of As. The HCO3- and Na+ are the dominant ions in the study area, and the water types of samples were CaHCO3, mixed CaMgCl, and CaCl, demonstrating that rock-water contact significantly impacts hydrochemical behavior. The geochemical modeling indicated negative saturation indices with calcium carbonate and other salt minerals, encompassing aragonite, calcite, dolomite, and halite. The dissolution mechanism suggested that these minerals might have implications for the mobilization of As in groundwater. A combination of human-induced and natural sources of contamination was unveiled through principal component analysis (PCA). Artificial neural networks (ANN), random forest (RF), and logistic regression (LR) were used to predict As in the groundwater. The data have been divided into two parts for statistical analysis: 20% for testing and 80% for training. The most significant input variables for As prediction was determined using Chi-squared analysis. The receiver operating characteristic area under the curve and confusion matrix were used to evaluate the models; the RF, ANN, and LR accuracies were 0.89, 0.85, and 0.76. The permutation feature and mean decrease in impurity determine ten parameters that influence groundwater arsenic in the study region, including F-, Fe2+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl-, SO42-, NO3-, HCO3-, and Na+. The present study shows RF is the best model for predicting groundwater As contamination in the research area. The water quality index showed that 161 samples represent poor water, and 121 samples are unsuitable for drinking. Establishing effective strategies and regulatory measures is imperative in Vehari to ensure the sustainability of groundwater resources.

Genome wide and evolutionary analysis of heat shock protein 70 proteins in tomato and their role in response to heat and drought stress.

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) proteins play a crucial role in mitigating the detrimental effects of abiotic stresses in plants. In the present study, 21 full length non-redundant SlHSP70 genes were detected and characterized in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). The SlHSP70 genes were classified into four groups based on phylogenetic analysis. Similarities were observed in gene features and motif structures of SlHSP70s belonging to the same group. SlHSP70 genes were unevenly and unequally mapped on 11 chromosomes. Segmental and tandem duplication are the main events that have contributed to the expansion of the SlHSP70 genes. A large number of groups and sub-groups were generated during comparative analysis of HSP70 genes in multiple plant species including tomato. These findings indicated a common ancestor which created diverse sub-groups prior to a mono-dicot split. The selection pressure on specific codons was identified through a maximum-likelihood approach and we found some important coding sites in the coding region of all groups. Diversifying positive selection was indirectly associated with evolutionary changes in SlHSP70 proteins and suggests that gene evolution modulated the tomato domestication event. In addition, expression analysis using RNA-seq revealed that 21 SlHSP70 genes were differentially expressed in response to drought and heat stress. SlHSP70-5 was down-regulated by heat treatment and up-regulated by drought stress. Furthermore, the expression of some of the duplicate genes was partially redundant, while others showed functional diversity. Our results indicate the diverse role of HSP70 gene family in S. lycopersicum under drought and heat stress conditions and open the gate for further investigation of HSP70 gene family functions, especially under drought and heat stress.

Range extension and species confirmation of Rhyneptesicus nasutus (Sind Serotine Bat) (Mammalia:Chiroptera) from Bajaur Agency, FATA, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: The lack of morphological differentiation among chiropteran species and cryptic speciation impedes species identification. DNA-based approaches help species identification and contribute to the discovery of additional species. Rhyneptesicus nasutus (Sind Serotine Bat) is a rare and poorly studied species in Pakistan. METHODS: This study explores the range extension of Sind Bat within the territorial limits of Pakistan from Sind and Baluchistan to Federally Administered Areas of Pakistan. No molecular record exists for the species in Pakistan. In the present study, we for the first time confirm species identification of Rhyneptesicus nasutus from Pakistan using a genetic marker (cytochrome b) along with morphometric analysis. A neighbor-joining tree based on Kimura-2 parameters was created to infer phylogenetic relationships. We sequenced the cytochrome b gene segment and conducted a phylogenetic analysis with previously published data from other countries. RESULTS: Sequences from Pakistan formed a clade with Iranian Rhyneptesicus nasutus specimens suggesting a common ancestry. Various morphometric parameters (mean values) were measured, including Head and Body length (44.3 mm), Tail length (43.4 mm), Hindfoot length (8.3 mm), Forearm length (35.7 mm), and Ear length 36 mm while 5th Metacarpal Length, 4th Metacarpal Length, and 3rd Metacarpal Lengths were 33.2 mm, 34.7 mm, and 35.3 mm. Approaches based on DNA barcoding reveal a high diversity of bat species in the study area. CONCLUSION: The data will enable researchers to build an improved evolutionary framework of the Serotine Bats from this region and subsequently reconstruct a detailed evolutionary history of the genus. Further research is required to test other molecular markers to support the findings of the current study in Pakistan.

Natural products based crown ethers: synthesis and their anticancer potential.

Natural products based novel crown ethers have been prepared by employing biologically active natural structures including tetrahydroisoquinoline, chrysin and biochanin-A as the side arms. The resulting crown scaffolds were evaluated for their anticancer potential against two cancer cell lines i.e. NCI-H460 (non-small lung carcinoma), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma). The comparative study showed that the addition of crown scaffold put marked effects on antiproliferative profile of parent natural precursors and is significant for lung carcinoma in particular. Biochanin-A derived crown ether showed three (03) folds higher antiproliferative activity (IC50 = 6.08 ± 0.07 µM) against lung carcinoma as compared to standard drug cisplatin (IC50 = 19.00 ± 1.24 µM). Cytotoxic trends for NIH-3T3 cell lines were also examined and found reduced as compared to parent natural structures. Hence, these findings could open a new pathway towards developing effective carcinostatic drugs.HIGHLIGHTSFour natural products based novel crown ethers have been developed.Comparative antiproliferative screening of crown ethers and natural precursors.Addition of crown showed marked effects on anticancer profile of natural products.Crown formation is significant for lung carcinoma potential in particular.Biochanin-A derived crown ether found three folds more active than standard drug.

Low-level laser therapy for the treatment of early stage cutaneous leishmaniasis: A pilot study.

Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) has been investigated for the treatment of various dermatological disorders. Here, we investigate the efficacy of LLLT for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). This study comprised of 53 patients (total 123 lesions) with a confirmed diagnosis of CL via positive smear of LD-bodies. The CL lesions were classified in Grade I (ie, papule of size ≤1 cm) to Grade V (ie, vesicle formation, ulceration, and superadded infection of size >4 cm). All the patients were divided into group 1 with low grade (ie, Grade I and II) CL lesions and group 2 with high-grade disease (ie, Grade III-V). Red laser light (wavelength = 635 nm) was used for the lesion irradiation, with a light dose of 75 J/cm2 and at a low power of 300 mW. The treatment was divided into four sessions, one session per week. Disease assessment at 10 months follow-up revealed complete response in 91% and partial response in 9% patients of group 1, while no response was observed in patients of group 2. LLLT offers a promising treatment modality for patients presenting with early-stage (ie, Grade I and II) CL lesions.

Stochastic equation of motion approach to fermionic dissipative dynamics. II. Numerical implementation.

This paper provides a detailed account of the numerical implementation of the stochastic equation of motion (SEOM) method for the dissipative dynamics of fermionic open quantum systems. To enable direct stochastic calculations, a minimal auxiliary space (MAS) mapping scheme is adopted, with which the time-dependent Grassmann fields are represented by c-number noises and a set of pseudo-operators. We elaborate on the construction of the system operators and pseudo-operators involved in the MAS-SEOM, along with the analytic expression for the particle current. The MAS-SEOM is applied to study the relaxation and voltage-driven dynamics of quantum impurity systems described by the single-level Anderson impurity model, and the numerical results are benchmarked against those of the highly accurate hierarchical equations of motion method. The advantages and limitations of the present MAS-SEOM approach are discussed extensively.

Stochastic equation of motion approach to fermionic dissipative dynamics. I. Formalism.

In this work, we establish formally exact stochastic equation of motion (SEOM) theory to describe the dissipative dynamics of fermionic open systems. The construction of the SEOM is based on a stochastic decoupling of the dissipative interaction between the system and fermionic environment, and the influence of environmental fluctuations on the reduced system dynamics is characterized by stochastic Grassmann fields. Meanwhile, numerical realization of the time-dependent Grassmann fields has remained a long-standing challenge. To solve this problem, we propose a minimal auxiliary space (MAS) mapping scheme with which the stochastic Grassmann fields are represented by conventional c-number fields along with a set of pseudo-levels. This eventually leads to a numerically feasible MAS-SEOM method. The important properties of the MAS-SEOM are analyzed by making connection to the well-established time-dependent perturbation theory and the hierarchical equations of motion theory. The MAS-SEOM method provides a potentially promising approach for the accurate and efficient simulation of fermionic open systems at ultra-low temperatures.

Treating Genetic Disorders Using State-Of-The-Art Technology.

CRISPR-Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-CRISPR associated Protein 9), basically a bacterial immune system is now widely applicable to engineer genomes of a number of cells and organisms because of its simplicity and robustness. In research avenue the system has been optimized to regulate gene expression, modify epigenome and edit target locus. These applications make CRISPR/Cas9, a technology of choice to edit disease causing mutations as well as the epigenome more efficiently than ever before. Meanwhile its application in in vivo and ex vivo cells is encouraging the scientific community for more vigorous gene therapy and in clinical setups for therapeutic genome editing. Here we review the recent advances that CRISPR-Cas9 mediated genome editing has achieved and is reported in previous studies and address the challenges associated with it.