Prediction of soil seed bank of piedmont and alluvial environments of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan / Predição do banco de sementes do solo do piemonte e ambientes aluviais de Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Paquistão

Abstract The current focus is on the overall pattern of seed storage present in the fragments of the soil of piedmont and alluvial landscapes of the environment. The present study predicted the seed banks of both soils of alluvial and piedmont zones in different ecological conditions and evaluate the potential of seeds in the restoration of both environments. The composition of the seed bank of soil is mainly affected by the alluvial environment and the structure of cleared area shows that more species of germinating annual grasses and growable seeds with the higher total number. Extant vegetation structures have an important role in the diversity of soil seed reservoirs, whose composition corresponded with the openness of the site. When in situ soil seed bank is recruited, it helps to restore only some components of the plant community in an alluvial environment. In our current research, it was confirmed that seed richness was higher in number at lower elevation (alluvial) than that at high elevation (piedmont). Seed richness showed a significant negative correlation with anions, cations, while significantly positive with altitude that suggests the richness pattern of the overall seed bank of the area is influenced by various environmental factors.

Resumo O foco atual está no padrão geral de armazenamento de sementes presente nos fragmentos de solo do Piemonte e nas paisagens aluviais do meio ambiente. O presente estudo previu os bancos de sementes de ambos os solos das zonas aluvial e piemontesa em diferentes condições ecológicas e avaliou o potencial das sementes na restauração de ambos os ambientes. A composição do banco de sementes do solo é afetada principalmente pelo ambiente aluvial e a estrutura da área desmatada mostra que mais espécies de gramíneas anuais em germinação e sementes cultiváveis ​​apresentam o maior número total. As estruturas da vegetação existente têm um papel importante na diversidade dos reservatórios de sementes do solo, cuja composição correspondeu à abertura do local. Quando o banco de sementes do solo in situ é recrutado, o mesmo ajuda a restaurar apenas alguns componentes da comunidade de plantas em um ambiente aluvial. Em nossa pesquisa atual, foi confirmado que a riqueza de sementes era maior em número em altitudes mais baixas (aluviais) do que em altitudes elevadas (Piemonte). A riqueza de sementes mostrou uma correlação negativa significativa com ânions, cátions, enquanto significativamente positiva com a altitude, o que sugere que o padrão de riqueza do banco geral de sementes da área é influenciado por vários fatores ambientais.

Prediction of soil seed bank of piedmont and alluvial environments of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract The current focus is on the overall pattern of seed storage present in the fragments of the soil of piedmont and alluvial landscapes of the environment. The present study predicted the seed banks of both soils of alluvial and piedmont zones in different ecological conditions and evaluate the potential of seeds in the restoration of both environments. The composition of the seed bank of soil is mainly affected by the alluvial environment and the structure of cleared area shows that more species of germinating annual grasses and growable seeds with the higher total number. Extant vegetation structures have an important role in the diversity of soil seed reservoirs, whose composition corresponded with the openness of the site. When in situ soil seed bank is recruited, it helps to restore only some components of the plant community in an alluvial environment. In our current research, it was confirmed that seed richness was higher in number at lower elevation (alluvial) than that at high elevation (piedmont). Seed richness showed a significant negative correlation with anions, cations, while significantly positive with altitude that suggests the richness pattern of the overall seed bank of the area is influenced by various environmental factors.

Resumo O foco atual está no padrão geral de armazenamento de sementes presente nos fragmentos de solo do Piemonte e nas paisagens aluviais do meio ambiente. O presente estudo previu os bancos de sementes de ambos os solos das zonas aluvial e piemontesa em diferentes condições ecológicas e avaliou o potencial das sementes na restauração de ambos os ambientes. A composição do banco de sementes do solo é afetada principalmente pelo ambiente aluvial e a estrutura da área desmatada mostra que mais espécies de gramíneas anuais em germinação e sementes cultiváveis apresentam o maior número total. As estruturas da vegetação existente têm um papel importante na diversidade dos reservatórios de sementes do solo, cuja composição correspondeu à abertura do local. Quando o banco de sementes do solo in situ é recrutado, o mesmo ajuda a restaurar apenas alguns componentes da comunidade de plantas em um ambiente aluvial. Em nossa pesquisa atual, foi confirmado que a riqueza de sementes era maior em número em altitudes mais baixas (aluviais) do que em altitudes elevadas (Piemonte). A riqueza de sementes mostrou uma correlação negativa significativa com ânions, cátions, enquanto significativamente positiva com a altitude, o que sugere que o padrão de riqueza do banco geral de sementes da área é influenciado por vários fatores ambientais.

Brassica oleracea L. (Acephala Group) based zinc oxide nanoparticles and their efficacy as antibacterial agent.

Zinc oxide nanoparticles were synthesized from the leaf extract of Brassica oleracea L. Acephala group (collard green) followed by their characterization using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX). The antibacterial properties of zinc nanoparticles were tested against Gram-negative bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC ® 9027™), Escherichia coli (ATCC ® 8739™), Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC® BAA-1705™) and Gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC ® 6538™) and Listeria monocytogenes (ATCC ® 13932™), at four different concentrations (50.00 µg/ml, 100.00 µg/ml, 500.00 µg/ml and 1 mg/ml) of zinc oxide nanoparticles suspension. Results revealed that the synthesized nanoparticles exhibit strong antibacterial effects against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes, Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli at 500.00 µg/ml-1 mg/ml concentrations. An increase in efficacy of nanoparticles with the decrease of their size was also evident. This is a first ever report on Brassica oleracea, L. based nanoparticles which demonstrates that 500.00 µg-1 mg/ml conc. of zinc oxide nanoparticles have antibacterial activity against both Gram -ve and Gram +ve bacteria and have the potential to be considered as an antibacterial agent in future.

Prediction of soil seed bank of piedmont and alluvial environments of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan.

The current focus is on the overall pattern of seed storage present in the fragments of the soil of piedmont and alluvial landscapes of the environment. The present study predicted the seed banks of both soils of alluvial and piedmont zones in different ecological conditions and evaluate the potential of seeds in the restoration of both environments. The composition of the seed bank of soil is mainly affected by the alluvial environment and the structure of cleared area shows that more species of germinating annual grasses and growable seeds with the higher total number. Extant vegetation structures have an important role in the diversity of soil seed reservoirs, whose composition corresponded with the openness of the site. When in situ soil seed bank is recruited, it helps to restore only some components of the plant community in an alluvial environment. In our current research, it was confirmed that seed richness was higher in number at lower elevation (alluvial) than that at high elevation (piedmont). Seed richness showed a significant negative correlation with anions, cations, while significantly positive with altitude that suggests the richness pattern of the overall seed bank of the area is influenced by various environmental factors.

Comparison of Airway Measurements in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Non-rheumatoid Patients using Lateral Cephalometric Radiographs.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the potential relationship between the volumetric area of the upper airway and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by comparing upper airway measurements between patients with and without RA. METHODS: This case-control study compared upper airway measurements between patients with and without RA using lateral cephalometric radiographs. Two distinct measurements were made: the area of the upper airway, which is defined as "the area extending from the point of the retro-palatal region to the base of the epiglottis," and the distance of the upper airway, which is defined as "the distance between the anterior border of the third cervical vertebra (C3) and the anterior border of the soft tissue of the neck". A single examiner performed all measurements, and the intra-examiner reliability was assessed. RESULTS: Sixty-one RA patients and 95 non-RA patients were included in the case and control groups, respectively. RA patients were significantly older in age and with higher BMI values. Patients with or without RA had Angle Class II as the most prevalent orthodontic classification. The upper airway was slightly narrower in RA patients, resulting in a smaller area, and the length of the upper airway was significantly longer in RA patients. CONCLUSION: Patients with RA have narrower upper airways as measured on lateral cephalometric radiographs. This may partially explain the high prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea among patients with RA. Focusing on airways measurements when cephalometric radiographs are taken for patients with RA could give some idea about which patient is likely to have OSA.

Misoprostol for open myomectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised control trials.

BACKGROUND: Excessive blood loss is a significant risk of myomectomy with the potential need for hysterectomy. OBJECTIVE: To study the effectiveness of preoperative misoprostol compared with placebo at open myomectomy on intra- and postoperative outcomes. SEARCH STRATEGY: PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, MEDLINE and EMBASE. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised control studies of women undergoing open myomectomy for symptomatic fibroids who were given either misoprostol or placebo preoperatively. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: The revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomised trials was used to assess the risk of bias. Primary outcomes were blood loss, drop in haemoglobin and need for blood transfusion. Secondary outcomes were operative time, postoperative pyrexia and length of postoperative stay. Pooled effect sizes with corresponding 95% CI were calculated using random effects models. Data were analysed using two statistical models for statistical reliability. RESULTS: Eight studies were included with a total of 385 patients, of which 192 received misoprostol. Preoperative misoprostol was significantly associated with lower blood loss by -170.32 ml (95% CI -201.53 to -139.10), lower drop in haemoglobin by -0.48 g/dl (95% CI -0.65 to -0.31), reduced need for blood transfusion (odds ratio [OR] -0.48, 95% CI -0.65 to -0.31), and a reduction in operative time by -11.64 minutes (95% CI -15.73 to -7.54). There was no difference in postoperative pyrexia or length of postoperative stay. CONCLUSION: Moderate- to high-quality studies have established that misoprostol minimises blood loss and need for blood transfusion at open myomectomy. This low-cost and readily available drug should be routinely administered prior to open myomectomy to improve clinical outcomes. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Use of misoprostol at open myomectomy reduces blood loss and need for blood transfusion with no impact on postoperative pyrexia.

Prevlaence of chronic kidney disease markers in Kumbotso rural Northern Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Data- on the epidemiology of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) from sub-SaharanAfrica are sparse. We investigated the prevalence of CKD and its early markers in Kumbotso, a rural community in northern Nigeria. METHODS: A total of 480 individuals were randomly selected from the general population using multistage stratified random sampling. Relevant- demographic and clinical data were obtained using a structured questionnaire. Biological samples (urine and blood) were drawn for relevant investigations. RESULTS: CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR <60 mls/min) was found in 117 participants (26%). Proteinuria was present in 106 persons (23.6%) and haematuria in 7 individuals (1.6%). The most common CKD stage was stage 1 (20%). CKD was associated with hypertension (P=0.002), diabetes (P=0.001), high cholesterol (P=0.030), smoking (P=0.015), increasing BMI (P=0.020), and increasing age (P=0.003). After adjusting for potential confounding with logistic regression modeling we found BMI, family history of hypertension, history of diabetes mellitus and family history of renal disease to be independent predictors of CKD. CONCLUSIONS: Early markers of CKD are common among rural inhabitants of northern Nigeria and this call for concerted efforts towards institution of preventive measures.

Automatic detection of chest compressions for the assessment of CPR-quality parameters.

AIM: Accurate chest compression detection is key to evaluate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) quality. Two automatic compression detectors were developed, for the compression depth (CD), and for the thoracic impedance (TI). The objective was to evaluate their accuracy for compression detection and for CPR quality assessment. METHODS: Compressions were manually annotated using the force and ECG in 38 out-of-hospital resuscitation episodes, comprising 869 min and 67,402 compressions. Compressions were detected using a negative peak detector for the CD. For the TI, an adaptive peak detector based on the amplitude and duration of TI fluctuations was used. Chest compression rate (CC-rate) and chest compression fraction (CCF) were calculated for the episodes and for every minute within each episode. CC-rate for rescuer feedback was calculated every 8 consecutive compressions. RESULTS: The sensitivity and positive predictive value were 98.4% and 99.8% using CD, and 94.2% and 97.4% using TI. The mean CCF and CC-rate obtained from both detectors showed no significant differences with those obtained from the annotations (P>0.6). The Bland-Altman analysis showed acceptable 95% limits of agreement between the annotations and the detectors for the per-minute CCF, per-minute CC-rate, and CC-rate for feedback. For the detector based on TI, only 3.7% of CC-rate feedbacks had an error larger than 5%. CONCLUSION: Automatic compression detectors based on the CD and TI signals are very accurate. In most cases, episode review could safely rely on these detectors without resorting to manual review. Automatic feedback on rate can be accurately done using the impedance channel.

Impact of income on the profile of cardiovascular risk factors among hypertensives in a Nigerian tertiary health centre: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: In most developed countries, risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are more prevalent in low socioeconomic classes. However, the pattern in developing countries appears to be different. This study sought to evaluate and compare risk factors for CVD as well as absolute CVD risk in hypertensive subjects grouped by income in Kano, Nigeria. METHODS: The study was cross-sectional in design and carried out in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. Seventy treatment-naïve hypertensives and an equal number of hypertensives on treatment were recruited by balloting from the outpatient clinics, and then regrouped into low- and high-income earners. These two groups were then compared in terms of their profile of CVD risk factors and absolute CVD risk. All the assessed CVD risk factors are recognised in standard guidelines for the management of persons with systemic hypertension. RESULTS: The low-income group comprised 45 patients (32.1%) while the remaining 95 (67.9%) had a high income. The most prevalent CVD risk factor was dyslipidaemia, found in 77.8 and 71.6% of low- and high-income earners, respectively (p = 0.437). The prevalence of proteinuria was significantly higher among low-income earners (42.2%) compared with high-income earners (15.8%) (p = 0.001). Mean serum creatinine was also higher among low-income earners but the difference did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.154). Very high CVD risk was found in 75.6 and 70.5% of low- and high income earners, respectively (p = 0.535). CONCLUSION: Dyslipidaemia and very high CVD risk were found in over 71% of the patients regardless of their level of income. Low-income earners had a higher prevalence of indices of renal damage. These findings pose a great challenge to the present and future management of all subjects, particularly those in the low-income group, given that in Nigeria, healthcare is largely paid for directly out of their pockets.

Cardiovascular risk factors in Nigerians with systemic hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is the commonest risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and it frequently coexists together with other risk factors, thereby increasing the absolute cardiovascular risk. This study is primarily aimed at assessing cardiovascular risk factors in patients with hypertension in comparison with controls. It is also aimed at assessing target organ damage and absolute cardiovascular risk among the hypertensives. STUDY DESIGN: The study was case-control in design, conducted at the General outpatient and Cardiology Clinics of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. Three groups of patients (treated hypertensives, untreated hypertensives and controls), each 70 in number, were matched for age and sex. Patients were selected by balloting, using simple random sampling method. RESULTS: The most prevalent cardiovascular risk factor was Increased Body Mass Index, which was significantly more prevalent among treated (70%) than untreated (45.7%) hypertensives and controls (44.3%). Left Ventricular Hypertrophy was the most prevalent Target Organ Damage, found in 54.3% of treated and 42.9% of untreated hypertensives, and 0% of controls. Very high cardiovascular risk was detected in 75.6% of treated and 68.5% of untreated hypertensives. CONCLUSION: Even before the commencement of treatment, hypertenisves had high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and evidence of target organ damage. These were more pronounced in treated hypertensives. The basis and prognosis are discussed.

Hepatocellular carcinoma, syncytial giant cell: a novel variant in children: a case report.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second most common primary malignant hepatic tumor in children. It often develops in patients with underlying liver disease. We report the clinicopathologic features of an unusual HCC occurring in an infant who presented with features of Cushing's syndrome due to bilateral adrenal hyperplasia. The tumor is characterized by epithelial syncytial giant cells. Giant cell carcinoma of the liver has been previously reported, but the cells were osteoclast-like (ie, mesenchymal type) and not epithelial type as it is in this patient. We propose to use the term HCC, syncytial giant cell type, to denote this apparently novel lesion.

Measuring the burden of premature mortality in Pakistan: use of sentinel surveillance systems.

INTRODUCTION: In developing countries, finding valid and reliable data is a great challenge. The Federal Bureau of Statistics in Pakistan maintains a surveillance system that records vital events. Results are reported as the Pakistan Demographic Survey (PDS). METHODS: The adjusted mortality data from PDS-1997 was used to estimate the burden of premature mortality using the healthy life year (HeaLY) methodology. RESULTS: The burden of premature mortality for Pakistan was 367 HeaLYs lost per 1000 population. More than half of the HeaLYs are being lost due to infection, maternal and perinatal conditions, and malnutrition. CONCLUSION: In the absence of a system maintaining reliable information regarding vital events, PDS provides a good alternate source of such information that can be used to aid policy making for health care and future research.

Mutations in VPS33B, encoding a regulator of SNARE-dependent membrane fusion, cause arthrogryposis-renal dysfunction-cholestasis (ARC) syndrome.

ARC syndrome (OMIM 208085) is an autosomal recessive multisystem disorder characterized by neurogenic arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, renal tubular dysfunction and neonatal cholestasis with bile duct hypoplasia and low gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (gGT) activity. Platelet dysfunction is common. Affected infants do not thrive and usually die in the first year of life. To elucidate the molecular basis of ARC, we mapped the disease to a 7-cM interval on 15q26.1 and then identified germline mutations in the gene VPS33B in 14 kindreds with ARC. VPS33B encodes a homolog of the class C yeast vacuolar protein sorting gene, Vps33, that contains a Sec1-like domain important in the regulation of vesicle-to-target SNARE complex formation and subsequent membrane fusion.

Ethical review of health research: a perspective from developing country researchers.

BACKGROUND: Increasing collaboration between industrialised and developing countries in human research studies has led to concerns regarding the potential exploitation of resource deprived countries. This study, commissioned by the former National Bioethics Advisory Commission of the United States, surveyed developing country researchers about their concerns and opinions regarding ethical review processes and the performance of developing country and US international review boards (IRBs). METHODS: Contact lists from four international organisations were used to identify and survey 670 health researchers in developing countries. A questionnaire with 169 questions explored issues of IRB review, informed consent, and recommendations. RESULTS: The majority of the developing country researchers were middle aged males who were physicians and were employed by educational institutions, carrying out research on part time basis. Forty four percent of the respondents reported that their studies were not reviewed by a developing country IRB or Ministry of Health and one third of these studies were funded by the US. During the review process issues such as the need for local language consent forms and letters for approval, and confidentiality protection of participants were raised by US IRBs in significantly higher proportions than by host country IRBs. CONCLUSION: This survey indicates the need for the ethical review of collaborative research in both US and host countries. It also reflects a desire for focused capacity development in supporting ethical review of research.

Living related liver transplantation in 13 cases of progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis.

Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) is a heterogenous group of disorders with various etiologies. Recent molecular and genetic studies have categorized the spectrum of types. Liver transplantation is a curative modality of treatment in this disease. We report our experience with 13 patients with PFIC who underwent living related liver transplantation. The follow-up periods ranged from 12 to 50 months. Two children died at 1 and 2 years posttransplantation, leading to a decrease in survival rate from 100% in the first year to 84.6%.

Treatment outcome of tuberculosis among Saudi nationals: role of drug resistance and compliance.

OBJECTIVE: Recent studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of multiresistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Saudi Arabia. In this study, we assessed the impact of this and other factors on the treatment outcome of tuberculosis among Saudi nationals. METHODS: We studied all patients (147 patients) with a culture-proven diagnosis of tuberculosis seen at the King Khalid National Guard Hospital (KKNGH), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from June 1993 to June 1999. Treatment outcome was classified as success or failure based on the clinical assessment, improvement or deterioration of chest X-rays, and results of follow-up sputum examination. RESULTS: Of the 147 patients, only 126 completed the follow-up program. Treatment was found to be successful in 102 (81.0%) and unsuccessful in 24 (19.0%) of these 126 patients. However, treatment success is much less (102/147; 69.4%) and failure is much higher (45/147; 30.6%) if the 21 patients who were lost to follow-up are regarded as treatment failures. The prevalence of poor compliance and multiply drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis were found to be significantly higher among those with treatment failure than among those in whom treatment was successful. There was no significant difference in treatment outcome between the different age groups. However, failure of treatment was observed to be more common (P < 0.001) among males (35 patients; 46.7%) than among females (10 patients; 13.9%). This could be explained mainly by the significantly higher prevalence of non-compliance among males (44%) than among females (15.3%). There were no significant differences in the symptoms, radiologic findings, clinical presentation (pulmonary versus extrapulmonary), social background or drug resistance between genders. CONCLUSION: Successful treatment outcome among Saudi Nationals seen at the KKNGH in 1993-99 was below the rate recommended by the WHO, and failed treatment was associated with poor compliance, male gender and drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These results emphasize the importance of culture and sensitivity tests for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and close supervision of patients taking antituberculosis medications.

Prevalence of serological markers of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in diabetics in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, a major world health problem, is hyper endemic in South-East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria. Being a major cause of morbidity and mortality, prophylaxis using the highly efficacious hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for those at risk. The prevalence of serological markers of chronic HBV infection was determined in a population of 100 outpatient diabetics and 80 non-diabetic controls at the Medical Outpatient Department of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital Idi-Araba between January and July 1992. Twenty diabetic patients [20%] and 14 controls [17.5%] had serological markers (HbsAg and antiHBc) indicating ongoing chronic HBV infection. The difference between diabetics and non-diabetic controls was not statistically significant (P>.05). None of the HbsAg and antiHBc positive diabetics [45%] and 8 control patients [57%] were HbeAg positive. The presence of serological markers was not related to the duration, type of diabetic treatment and degree of diabetic control. Our findings suggest that diabetics in Lagos appear not to be more predisposed to chronic HBV infection than the rest of the population, and therefore would require no special antiHBV prophylaxis.

The diagnostic challenge of pulmonary Kaposi's sarcoma with pulmonary tuberculosis in a renal transplant recipient: a case report.

We report a case of a 39-year-old, HIV-negative, post renal transplant patient who developed mucocutaneous Kaposi's sarcoma with lung parenchymal involvement and concurrently culture proven pulmonary tuberculosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of this combination, which presented with cavitating lung nodules and responded well to withdrawal of immunosuppressive drugs beside antituberculous treatment.