Parasitological, molecular, and epidemiological investigation of Trypanosoma evansi infection among dromedary camels in Balochistan province.

Surra is a zoonotic disease caused by Trypanosoma evansi (T. evansi), which affects a wide variety of animals worldwide. The disease has a severe impact on the productivity, health, and working capacity of camels and causes mortality and extensive economic losses if not diagnosed early. This is the first comprehensive report on the prevalence of T. evansi infection in dromedaries in Balochistan province. In the present study, 393 blood samples (indigenous, n = 240; imported, n=153) were collected from one-humped camels (Camelus dromedarius) and were tested by molecular methods to estimate the prevalence of T. evansi in three districts (Pishin, Nushki, and Lasbella) of Balochistan province. The overall prevalence of T. evansi among examined camel samples was 28.24% (95% confidence interval (CI): 24.02-32.89%). The risk of T. evansi infection in adult camels (> 10 years) is higher than that in young ones (odd-ration (OR) = 2.7; 95% CI: 1.3357-5.3164%). Moreover, male camels were six times more likely to get an infection than female camels. The detection of T. evansi infection in camels sampled in summer and spring was 3.12- and 5.10-fold higher, respectively, than in camels sampled in winter. In conclusion, our findings showed a high rate of T. evansi infection in camels from the three districts. Our study emphasizes the need for a strict surveillance program and risk assessment studies as prerequisites for control measures.

Semi-Coprime Array with Staggered Beam-Steering of Sub-Arrays.

A split-aperture array (SAA) is an array of sensors or antenna elements in which the array is split into two or more sub-arrays (SAs). Recently proposed SAAs, namely coprime and semi-coprime arrays, offer to attain a small half-power beamwidth (HPBW) with a small number of elements, compared to most conventional unified-aperture arrays, at the cost of reduced peak-to-side-lobe ratio (PSLR). To reduce HPBW and increase PSLR, non-uniform inter-element spacing and excitation amplitudes have proven helpful. However, all the existing arrays and beam-formers suffer increased HPBW, degraded PSLR or both when the main beam is steered away from the broadside. In this paper, we propose staggered beam-steering of SAs, a novel technique for decreasing HPBW. In this technique, we steer the main beams of the SAs of a semi-coprime array to angles slightly different from the desired steering angle. In conjunction with staggered beam-steering of SAs, we have utilized Chebyshev weights to suppress the side lobes. The results show that the beam-widening effect of Chebyshev weights can be mitigated considerably by staggered beam-steering of the SAs. Ultimately, the unified beam-pattern of the whole array offers HPBW and PSLR better than the existing SAAs, uniform and non-uniform linear arrays, especially when the desired steering angle is away from the broadside direction.

Demographic, social and economic factors affecting the adoption of green toilets among rural households in India.

This study investigates the demographic, social and economic factors as key determinants of green toilet adoption among rural households in India. The Rural Impact Survey data of the World Bank have been used for this study, covering 2731 rural households from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. The chi-square test and regression analysis with marginal estimate have been used to analyze the data. Result of the analysis indicates that about 36.2 percent surveyed rural households have reported access to green toilets having proper effluent discharge systems as per the environmental norms. Further, there is a significant association between the adoption of green toilets and demographic, social and economic characteristics of rural households. Finally, the regression analysis indicates that a number of demographic, social and economic factors i.e., age, education, income, social category, access to information, access to drinking water, and asset ownership have a significant marginal effect on the adoption of green toilets in rural India. Considering the importance of ensuring total sanitation and commitment under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations for eradicating open defecation for all by 2030 in the country, the results of the study provide useful policy directions for enhancing the adoption of green toilets among the rural households in India.

Nephrocurative Effect of Parthenium hysterophorus (Carrot Grass) in Paracetamol Induced Nephrotoxicity in Rabbits.

Parthenium hysterophorus is conventionally used to treat urinary tract infections, joint pain, and hyperglycaemia. This study evaluates the reno-curative effects of methanolic extract of P. hysterophorus (MEPH) in paracetamol-induced nephrotoxic rabbits. Thirty male rabbits were divided into V groups: Group I served as the negative control. Group-II to V were treated with 2 g/kg of paracetamol to induce nephrotoxicity. Group II served as paracetamol (PCM) intoxicated control. Group III till V were fed orally with the following treatments: III paracetamol (PCM) 40 mg/kg MEPH; IV PCM+80 mg/kg MEPH; V PCM+Cystone (5 ml/kg), respectively, for 14 days. The body weight of all animals was recorded on days 1, 7 and 14. All the animals were dissected on the 14th day and blood, urine and kidneys were collected. The results showed that P. hysterophorus had no effect on body weight but lowered urea and creatinine levels and brought urine parameters back to the normal range in experimental groups of PCM-induced nephrotoxic rabbits. The 80 mg/kg dose of MEPH reduced urea and creatinine levels and normalized urine parameters more effectively compared to low doses of MEPH and the standard drug, i.e., Cystone. Kidney histopathological studies exhibited that 80 mg/kg of MEPH repaired paracetamol-induced renal damage, whereas Cystone only provided reno protection as no repair in damaged tissue was investigated in histopathology of Cystone treated animals. The results suggested that P. hysterophorus exhibited significant reno-curative activity on paracetamol-induced nephrotoxic rabbits.

Antidiabetic and pancreas-protective potential of Parthenium Hysterophorous (Carrot grass) in Alloxan induced diabetic rabbits.

Parthenium hysterophorus has been used to cure cancer, fever, malaria, diarrhea, dysentery, and neurologic disorders. This study evaluates the anti-diabetic effects of methanolic extract of P. hysterophorus (MEPH) in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits. Twenty-five rabbits were divided into 5groups (N=5). Group-I served as a negative control. Groups II to V were injected with freshly prepared alloxan solution 150 mg/kg intraperitoneally to induce diabetes. Group II till V received following treatments orally: Group II: Alloxan 150 mg/kg alone; group III: Alloxan + MEPH (50 mg/kg); group IV: Alloxan + MEPH (100 mg/kg); group V: Alloxan +Glucophage (62.5 mg/kg), respectively for 10 days. The body weight of all animals was recorded on the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th days. Short-term (1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th hour) and long-term (4th, 7th and 10th day) hypoglycemic effects were also recorded. All animals were sacrificed on the 10th day to isolate the pancreas for histopathological examination. The results showed that MPEH reduced the blood glucose levels in all the groups of alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits. The histopathological studies depicted that 100 mg/kg of MEPH most effectively repaired alloxan-induced pancreatic damage. The study showed that the MPEH is useful for developing effective phytomedicine to treat diabetes mellitus.

Enhanced Anomaly Detection System for IoT Based on Improved Dynamic SBPSO.

The Internet of Things (IoT) supports human endeavors by creating smart environments. Although the IoT has enabled many human comforts and enhanced business opportunities, it has also opened the door to intruders or attackers who can exploit the technology, either through attacks or by eluding it. Hence, security and privacy are the key concerns for IoT networks. To date, numerous intrusion detection systems (IDS) have been designed for IoT networks, using various optimization techniques. However, with the increase in data dimensionality, the search space has expanded dramatically, thereby posing significant challenges to optimization methods, including particle swarm optimization (PSO). In light of these challenges, this paper proposes a method called improved dynamic sticky binary particle swarm optimization (IDSBPSO) for feature selection, introducing a dynamic search space reduction strategy and a number of dynamic parameters to enhance the searchability of sticky binary particle swarm optimization (SBPSO). Through this approach, an IDS was designed to detect malicious data traffic in IoT networks. The proposed model was evaluated using two IoT network datasets: IoTID20 and UNSW-NB15. It was observed that in most cases, IDSBPSO obtained either higher or similar accuracy even with less number of features. Moreover, IDSBPSO substantially reduced computational cost and prediction time, compared with conventional PSO-based feature selection methods.

Exploring the Phytochemicals and Anti-Cancer Potential of the Members of Fabaceae Family: A Comprehensive Review.

Cancer is the second-ranked disease and a cause of death for millions of people around the world despite many kinds of available treatments. Phytochemicals are considered a vital source of cancer-inhibiting drugs and utilize specific mechanisms including carcinogen inactivation, the induction of cell cycle arrest, anti-oxidant stress, apoptosis, and regulation of the immune system. Family Fabaceae is the second most diverse family in the plant kingdom, and species of the family are widely distributed across the world. The species of the Fabaceae family are rich in phytochemicals (flavonoids, lectins, saponins, alkaloids, carotenoids, and phenolic acids), which exhibit a variety of health benefits, especially anti-cancer properties; therefore, exploration of the phytochemicals present in various members of this family is crucial. These phytochemicals of the Fabaceae family have not been explored in a better way yet; therefore, this review is an effort to summarize all the possible information related to the phytochemical status of the Fabaceae family and their anti-cancer properties. Moreover, various research gaps have been identified with directions for future research.

Phytoaccumulation of Zn, Pb, and Cd in Conocarpus lancifolius irrigated with wastewater: does physiological response influence heavy metal uptake?

Conocarpus lancifolius is a fast-growing and drought tolerant tree species with phytoremediation potential in arid environments. The present study was conducted to evaluate the phytoaccumulation potential under wastewater treatment. The experiment was performed in a greenhouse where 3-month-old seedlings were irrigated with industrial wastewater and growth, biomass and physiological parameters were measured. Concentrations of zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd) in leaves, shoots, and roots along with translocation and tolerance index were also determined. The results showed that under wastewater treatment total biomass increased from 24.2 to 31.5 g, net CO2 assimilation rate increased from 9.93 to 13.3 µmol m-2 s-1, and water use efficiency increased from 1.7 to 2.42. Similarly, heavy metals (Zn, Pb, and Cd) accumulation in stem, leaves, and roots increased significantly under wastewater treatment where the highest concentration of Zn, Pb and Cd was found in roots followed by leaves and stem, respectively. Tolerance index was found >1, and translocation factor of all heavy metals was found >1. The study revealed that phytoaccumulation potential of C. lancifolius was mainly driven by improved net CO2 assimilation rate and water use efficiency.

Venous Congestion in Pedicled Frontal Branch Superficial Temporal Artery Flaps Reconstructions for Head and Neck Defects: A Review.

The superficial temporal artery (STA) flap is a versatile flap for head and neck defect reconstruction. It can be based on the frontal branch of the STA and an islanded 360-degree rotation arc for various defects on the scalp, cheek, and auricular region. It provides a nonmicrosurgical option for reconstructing such defects, which is itself relatively easy to perform. However, venous congestion is a problem than often can cause worry to the clinician and hence preclude its use. In this review, we revisit this flap in head and neck reconstruction, with case examples used for reconstruction of defects on the scalp, maxilla, lip, ear, and retroauricular area. The STA flap in our review can be used either as a fasciocutaneous flap or with its fascia alone. The main issue with the STA flap is that it is generally a high-inflow flap with variable outflow. Venous congestion is frequently encountered in our practice, and adequate management of the venous drainage in the postoperative period is crucial in ensuring its success as a versatile and viable option for head and neck reconstruction.

Outcome of treatment of Zygomatic bone fracture by two point fixation versus three point fixation in Mayo Hospital Lahore.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the outcome of two-point internal fixation versus three-point internal fixation for the treatment of zygoma fractures. METHODS: The quassi-experimental study was conducted at the King Edward Medical University, Mayo Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, from April to September 2016, and comprised patients with zygomatic bone fracture who were randomly divided into two groups. In Group A, patients were treated with two-point fixation and in Group B, patients were treated with three-point fixation. All patients were treated by the same consultant. Patients were followed up on first, third and sixth week postoperatively and malar height and mouth opening were recorded at the sixth week follow-up. Data was analysed using SPSS 17. RESULTS: Of the 60 patients, there were 30(50%) in each of the two groups. There were 39(65%) males and 21(35%) females. The mean age in Group A was 29.56±9.89 years (range: 17-50 years), while in Group-B it was 29.45±8.68 years (range: 17-49 years). Mean malar height at 6th week post-operative follow up showed a significant reduction in Group B compared to Group A (p= 0.001). Significant improvement in mouth opening was seen in Group B compared to Group A (p= 0.034). CONCLUSIONS: Three-point fixation was found to give more stable reduction compared to 2-point fixation for treating zygomatic bone fractures in terms of malar height and mouth opening.

Neopterin: An immune biomarker of coronary artery disease and its association with other CAD markers.

Neopterin has been considered as an important marker of cellular inflammation. The primary objective of the current study was to determine the role of neopterin in cardiovascular disease and its association with other well known cardiac markers. The study was composed of total 200 subjects (100 confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) patients, 50 recently diagnosed, and 50 managed CAD patients) both men and women and 100 healthy control individuals of matching age and weight. Serum neopterin analysis was done using commercial available ELISA kits. Other cardiac markers viz. troponin, creatine kinase (CK), CK MB isoenzyme (CKMB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), fibrinogen, C-reactive protein (CRP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) estimation was done by standard routine biochemical methods. Neopterin level was found to be remarkably enhanced by 150% and 513% in the recently diagnosed and managed CAD patients, respectively. CK level also showed a significant rise by 62% in the managed patients. However, recently diagnosed patients did not show any significant change. Moreover, cross correlation study showed statistically significant (P < 0.01) change in neopterin and CK levels between recently and managed patients. In the other studied CAD markers such as CKMB, fibrinogen and LDH also showed a significant increase in both categories of patients. CRP level was also found to be significantly enhanced by 357% (P < 0.01) and 341% (P < 0.05) in recently diagnosed and managed patients respectively. Because of cost effectiveness, easy and quick analysis of neopterin in the serum sample, we propose neopterin as the prognostic as well as diagnostic biomarker of CAD before other markers could be tested especially in Saudi population.

Meniscal ossicle: posttraumatic origin and association with posterior meniscal root tears.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to characterize meniscal ossicles and their association with meniscal root tears. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A two-center retrospective assessment of 65 knee MRI studies with meniscal ossicles was performed. The relationship of the ossicle to the meniscal root and horn was assessed along with other findings of internal derangement of the knee. RESULTS: Meniscal ossicles were identified in patients ranging from 23 to 80 years old. The ossicles were located within the posterior horn and root of the medial meniscus in 57 of 65 (88%) examinations. Associated meniscal tears were seen at the site or adjacent to the ossicle in all but one examination (98%). Meniscal extrusion was present in 52% (34/65) of examinations. Associated findings included articular cartilage loss, which was severe in 51% (33/65) of examinations. Anterior cruciate ligament injury or prior anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery was also identified in 58% (38/65) of examinations. CONCLUSION: Our findings show that the vast majority of meniscal ossicles are associated with posterior horn or meniscal root tears and a high incidence of focal articular cartilage loss as well as anterior cruciate ligament tears.

Comparative Evaluation of Shear Bond Strength, Enamel Microfracture, and Adhesive Remnant Index of APC Flash-Free System Versus Traditional Bonding: An In-Vitro Study.

INTRODUCTION: In orthodontics, shear bond strength plays an important role because it provides a good bond between the brackets and tooth surface; it avoids fracture of the tooth surface and prevents debonding of brackets from the tooth surface. All of these allow sufficient treatment time. Many factors, including the adhesive, its thickness, its strength, the bonding procedure, the clinician's ability, the base design, the geometry of the bracket, the material, and the kind of bracket all contribute to the shear bond strength. Brackets joined using conventional adhesive and adhesive pre-coated (APC) flash-free glue were the subjects of this comparison and evaluation research, which aimed to measure shear bond strength, enamel microfracture, and adhesive residual index. METHOD: 60 recently removed premolars from humans were used in this investigation. Before mounting on the acrylic block, the teeth were meticulously cleaned and preserved in artificial saliva. Two groups were formed from the collected premolars the control group and the experimental group. For the control group, we used American Orthodontics (AO) Master/Mini Master series brackets glued with resin composite kits. To make sure the adhesive was uniformly thick, we flashed extra adhesive around the brackets. In the meantime, samples were bonded using 3M Unitek APC flash-free technology in the experimental group. RESULTS: The research indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups to the adhesive remnant index (ARI) and mean shear bond strength. The shear bond strength of the experimental group averaged 10.96 megapascals (MPa), whereas the control group's was 5.70 MPa. The control group's ARI score was 2.97, whereas the experimental group's score was 2.4. There was no statistically significant change seen in enamel microfracture. CONCLUSION: A more robust shear bond may be possible using APC flash-free brackets. Compared to conventional bonding techniques and brackets, APC flash-free brackets have a lower adhesive residual index. The APC flash-free bracket technology also causes more enamel microfracture than conventional bonding and bracketing methods.

ANN-based swarm intelligence for predicting expansive soil swell pressure and compression strength.

This research suggests a robust integration of artificial neural networks (ANN) for predicting swell pressure and the unconfined compression strength of expansive soils (PsUCS-ES). Four novel ANN-based models, namely ANN-PSO (i.e., particle swarm optimization), ANN-GWO (i.e., grey wolf optimization), ANN-SMA (i.e., slime mould algorithm) alongside ANN-MPA (i.e., marine predators' algorithm) were deployed to assess the PsUCS-ES. The models were trained using the nine most influential parameters affecting PsUCS-ES, collected from a broader range of 145 published papers. The observed results were compared with the predictions made by the ANN-based metaheuristics models. The efficacy of all these formulated models was evaluated by utilizing mean absolute error (MAE), Nash-Sutcliffe (NS) efficiency, performance index ρ, regression coefficient (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), ratio of RMSE to standard deviation of actual observations (RSR), variance account for (VAF), Willmott's index of agreement (WI), and weighted mean absolute percentage error (WMAPE). All the developed models for Ps-ES had an R significantly > 0.8 for the overall dataset. However, ANN-MPA excelled in yielding high R values for training dataset (TrD), testing dataset (TsD), and validation dataset (VdD). This model also exhibited the lowest MAE of 5.63%, 5.68%, and 5.48% for TrD, TsD, and VdD, respectively. The results of the UCS model's performance revealed that R exceeded 0.9 in the TrD. However, R decreased for TsD and VdD. Also, the ANN-MPA model yielded higher R values (0.89, 0.93, and 0.94) and comparatively low MAE values (5.11%, 5.67, and 3.61%) in the case of PSO, GWO, and SMA, respectively. The UCS models witnessed an overfitting problem because the aforementioned R values of the metaheuristics were 0.62, 0.56, and 0.58 (TsD), respectively. On the contrary, no significant observation was recorded in the VdD of UCS models. All the ANN-base models were also tested using the a-20 index. For all the formulated models, maximum points were recorded to lie within ± 20% error. The results of sensitivity as well as monotonicity analyses depicted trending results that corroborate the existing literature. Therefore, it can be inferred that the recently built swarm-based ANN models, particularly ANN-MPA, can solve the complexities of tuning the hyperparameters of the ANN-predicted PsUCS-ES that can be replicated in practical scenarios of geoenvironmental engineering.

Comparative Effect of High-Frequency Nasal Cannula and Noninvasive Ventilation on the Work of Breathing and Postoperative Pulmonary Complication after Pediatric Congenital Cardiac Surgery: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Various forms of commonly used noninvasive respiratory support strategies have considerable effect on diaphragmatic contractile function which can be evaluated using sonographic diaphragm activity parameters. OBJECTIVE: To compare the magnitude of respiratory workload decreased as assessed by thickening fraction of the diaphragm and longitudinal diaphragmatic strain while using high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) and noninvasive ventilation (NIV) modes [nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) and bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP)] in pediatric patients after cardiothoracic surgery. METHODOLOGY: This prospective randomized controlled trial was performed at a tertiary care surgical intensive care unit in postcardiac surgery patients aged between 1 and 48 months, who were randomly allocated into three groups: 1) HFNC (with flows at 2 L/kg/min), 2) NIPPV via RAMS cannula in PSV mode (pressure support 8 cmH2O, PEEP 5 cmH2O), and 3) BiPAP in nCPAP mode (CPAP of 5 cmH2O). Measurements were recorded at baseline after extubation (R0) and subsequently every 12 hourly (R1, R2, R3, R4, R5) at 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 hours respectively until therapy was discontinued. RESULTS: Sixty patients were included, with 20 patients each in the NIPPV group, HFNC group, and BiPAP group. Longitudinal strain at crura of diaphragm was lower in the BiPAP group as compared to HFNC group at R2-R4 [R2 (-4.27± -2.73 vs - 8.40± -6.40, P = 0.031), R3 (-5.32± -2.28 vs -8.44± -5.6, P = 0.015), and R4 (-3.8± -3.42 vs -12.4± -7.12, P = 0.040)]. PFR was higher in HFNC than NIPPV group at baseline and R1-R3[R0 (323 ± 114 vs 264 ± 80, P = 0.008), R1 (311 ± 114 vs 233 ± 66, P = 0.022), R2 (328 ± 116 vs 237 ± 4, P = 0.002), R3 (346 ± 112 vs 238 ± 54, P = 0.001)]. DTF and clinical parameters of increased work of breathing remain comparable between three groups. The rate of reintubation (within 48 hours of extubation or at ICU discharge) was 0.06% (1 in NIPPV, 1 in BiPAP, 2 in HFNC) and remain comparable between groups (P = 1.0). CONCLUSION: BiPAP may provide better decrease in work of breathing compared to HFNC as reflected by lower crural diaphragmatic strain pattern. HFNC may provide better oxygenation compared to NIPPV group, as reflected by higher PFR ratio. Failure rate and safety profile are similar among different methods used.

Comparative Evaluation of Sorption and Solubility of Core Buildup Materials in Different pH Media: An In-Vitro Study.

AIM: To evaluate and compare the sorption and solubility of two different core buildup materials in different pH media for periods of one day, one week, and one month. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Sixty samples were prepared and divided into Group A (30 resin-based samples) and Group B (30 glass ionomer cement (GIC)-based samples). The sorption and solubility of the different materials were calculated by weighing the samples before and after desiccation and media immersion for periods of one day, one week, and one month. Groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test, and for different media, the intragroup significance of the mean difference was performed using the Friedmann test and Wilcoxon signed rank test at a significance level of p<0.05. RESULTS: After immersion for different time periods, the resin-based core buildup material (Core X flow) showed less sorption and solubility as compared to the glass ionomer-based core buildup material (Secure Core Z) for all time periods, with a significant difference seen for a time period of one week and one month and being nonsignificant for a time period of one day. CONCLUSION: Core X flow had lower sorption and solubility values when compared to Secure Core Z, as per the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 4049 standards, except for a one-month time period in alkaline media.

Analyzing vegetation health dynamics across seasons and regions through NDVI and climatic variables.

This study assesses the relationships between vegetation dynamics and climatic variations in Pakistan from 2000 to 2023. Employing high-resolution Landsat data for Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) assessments, integrated with climate variables from CHIRPS and ERA5 datasets, our approach leverages Google Earth Engine (GEE) for efficient processing. It combines statistical methodologies, including linear regression, Mann-Kendall trend tests, Sen's slope estimator, partial correlation, and cross wavelet transform analyses. The findings highlight significant spatial and temporal variations in NDVI, with an annual increase averaging 0.00197 per year (p < 0.0001). This positive trend is coupled with an increase in precipitation by 0.4801 mm/year (p = 0.0016). In contrast, our analysis recorded a slight decrease in temperature (- 0.01011 °C/year, p < 0.05) and a reduction in solar radiation (- 0.27526 W/m2/year, p < 0.05). Notably, cross-wavelet transform analysis underscored significant coherence between NDVI and climatic factors, revealing periods of synchronized fluctuations and distinct lagged relationships. This analysis particularly highlighted precipitation as a primary driver of vegetation growth, illustrating its crucial impact across various Pakistani regions. Moreover, the analysis revealed distinct seasonal patterns, indicating that vegetation health is most responsive during the monsoon season, correlating strongly with peaks in seasonal precipitation. Our investigation has revealed Pakistan's complex association between vegetation health and climatic factors, which varies across different regions. Through cross-wavelet analysis, we have identified distinct coherence and phase relationships that highlight the critical influence of climatic drivers on vegetation patterns. These insights are crucial for developing regional climate adaptation strategies and informing sustainable agricultural and environmental management practices in the face of ongoing climatic changes.

Risk assessment in livestock supply chain using the MCDM method: a case of emerging economy.

The purpose of the study is to identify and assess the risks related to the livestock supply chain. The major risk related to the livestock supply chain are identified through the comprehensive literature review and finalized with the help of the expert's feedback. Initially, seventeen major livestock supply chain risks are finalized, and these risks are categorized into four major dimensions. Further, analytical hierarchical process (AHP) is used to prioritize these identified major risks based on their severity. Finally, sensitivity analysis is conducted to check the robustness of the risk priorities. The result shows that "input supply risk" is the most significant risk dimension followed by "production risk," "post-harvest risk," and "marketing & price risk." The finding also suggests that "poor quality and under supply of feed and fodder," "lack of proper waste disposal," and "absence of certification for the quality of animals" are the major risks among all seventeen risks. The highest priority risks are input supply risks which require the attention of the livestock supply chain partners. The proposed research framework is used to identify and analyze the livestock supply chain risks. The findings of this research might be beneficial for the farmers and other livestock supply chain stakeholders in developing policies/plans/strategies to control the risk in their livestock supply chain.

A comparative surface evaluation of orthodontic mini-implants before and after en masse retraction-A SEM study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the changes in surface morphology of two different types of mini-implants after clinical en masse retraction using scanning electron microscopy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty mini-implants of Dentos (Korea, Absoanchor, BH-1817-08) and Orlus (Korea, Yesanchor, C-1817) were inserted in patients in a split-mouth design who required en masse anterior retraction and absolute anchorage. Surface characteristics of mini-implants such as pitch (distance between consecutive threads), flank width (distance between root and crest), and taper were studied using scanning electron microscope (FEI nanosem450) before and after clinical use. RESULTS: Statistically significant difference (p value = 0.003) was found in a mean reduction of pitch dimension among the two groups with a mean difference of 25.000 µm. Also, a statistically significant difference was noted (p value = 0.001) in a mean reduction of flank width among Dentos implants as compared to Orlus implants. A statistically significant difference (p = 0.001) was seen in the mean reduction of taper dimension among Dentos group (0.0140 ± 0.02271) as compared to the Orlus group (0.0810 ± 0.05152). CONCLUSION: A marked reduction in surface morphology such as the pitch, flank width, and taper of both mini-implants after retrieval was observed. Dentos group of mini-implants displayed better dimensional stability post-retrieval as compared to the Orlus group of mini-implants. All the mini-screws showed milling defects in form of scratches on observation under scanning electron microscopy despite a smooth appearance to the naked eye.