An SNP based genotyping assay for genes associated with drought tolerance in bread wheat.

BACKGROUND: SnRK2 plays vital role in responding to adverse abiotic stimuli. The applicability of TaSnRK2.4 and TaSnRK2.9 was investigated to leverage the potential of these genes in indigenous wheat breeding programs. METHODS: Genetic diversity was assessed using pre-existing markers for TaSnRK2.4 and TaSnRK2.9. Furthermore, new markers were also developed to enhance their broader applicability. KASP markers were designed for TaSnRK2.4, while CAPS-based markers were tailored for TaSnRK2.9. RESULTS: Analysis revealed lack of polymorphism in TaSnRK2.4 among Pakistani wheat germplasm under study. To validate this finding, available gel-based markers for TaSnRK2.4 were employed, producing consistent results and offering limited potential for application in marker-assisted wheat breeding with Pakistani wheat material. For TaSnRK2.9-5A, CAPS2.9-5A-1 and CAPS2.9-5A-2 markers were designed to target SNP positions at 308 nt and 1700 nt revealing four distinct haplotypes. Association analysis highlighted the significance of Hap-5A-1 of TaSnRK2.9-5A, which exhibited association with an increased number of productive tillers (NPT), grains per spike (GPS), and reduced plant height (PH) under well-watered (WW) conditions. Moreover, it showed positive influence on NPT under WW conditions, GPS under water-limited (WL) conditions, and PH under both WW and WL conditions. High selection intensity observed for Hap-5A-1 underscores the valuable role it has played in Pakistani wheat breeding programs. Gene expression studies of TaSnRK2.9-5A revealed the involvement of this gene in response to PEG, NaCl, low temperature and ABA treatments. CONCLUSION: These findings propose that TaSnRK2.9 can be effectively employed for improving wheat through marker-assisted selection in wheat breeding efforts.

Color-tunable stable quasi-2D hybrid metal halide perovskites: synthesis, characterization, and optical analysis.

Metal halide perovskites show remarkable optical properties and useful applications in optoelectronic devices. However, the instability of three-dimensional (3D) metal halide perovskites limits their applications, leading to the emergence of more stable two-dimensional (2D) metal halide perovskites. Herein, we present a facile synthesis of the 2D hybrid metal halide perovskite (EDA)(MA)n-1PbnBr3n+1 (EDA: ethylene diammonium, MA: methylammonium), where n = 1-6, and MAPbBr3 perovskite layers using an anti-solvent co-precipitation technique. The synthesized materials exhibited tunable optical properties, and the color emissions of pure EDAPbBr4 and (EDA)(MA)2Pb3Br10 perovskites were successfully tailored by altering halide anion layers. The band gap decreases as the value of n in the (EDA)(MA)n-1PbnBr3n+1 compound increases from 1 to 6. The as-prepared materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Finally, the stability of the 2D hybrid metal halide perovskite structures was evaluated under ambient conditions over different periods. Their tunable color emission was investigated and robust fluorescence was observed after 55 days. Thus, this study provides valuable insights into the synthesis and characterization of 2D hybrid metal halide perovskites for tunable color emission, highlighting their potential for use in various optoelectronic applications.

Does no-till crop management mitigate gaseous emissions and reduce yield disparities: An empirical US-China evaluation.

Global agricultural systems face one of the greatest sustainability challenges: meeting the growing demand for food without leaving a negative environmental footprint. United States (US) and China are the two largest economies and account for 39 % of total global greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere. No-till is a promising land management option that allows agriculture to better adapt and mitigate climate change effects compared to traditional tillage. However, the efficacy of no-till for mitigating GHG is still debatable. In this meta-analysis, we comprehensively assess the impact of no-till (relative to traditional tillage) on GHG mitigation potential and crop productivity in different agroecological systems and management regimes in the US and China. Overall, no-till in China did not change crop yields, although soil CO2 (8 %) and N2O (12 %) emissions decreased significantly, while soil CH4 emissions increased by 12 %. In contrast to Chinese no-till, a significant improvement in crop yields (up to 12 %) was recorded on US cropland under no-till. Moreover, significant decreases in soil N2O (21 %) and CH4 (12 %) emissions were observed. Of the three cropping systems, only wheat showed significant reduction in CO2, N2O and CH4 emissions in the Chinese no-till system. In the case of US, no-till soybean-rice and maize cropping systems demonstrated significant emission reductions for N2O and CO2, respectively. Interestingly, yields of no-till maize in China and rice in US exceeded those of other no-till cereals. In China, no-till on medium-texture soils resulted in significant reductions in GHG emissions and higher crop yields compared to other soil types. In both countries, the relatively higher crop yields under irrigated versus non-irrigated no-till and the significant yield differences on fine textured soils under US no-till are likely due to the substantial N2O reductions. In summary, crop yield disparities from no-till between China and the US were related to the insignificant effects on controlling CH4 emissions and successfully mitigating N2O, respectively. This study comprehensively demonstrates how cropping system and pedoclimatic conditions influence the relative effectiveness of no-till in both countries.

Comparison of Ventilator Mechanics and Mortality Between COVID-19 Versus Non-COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: We aim to assess the differences in ventilator mechanics and mortality of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) between patients with and without COVID-19. It might serve as a milestone in reshaping management protocols by providing very preliminary evidence in this direction. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study that included adult patients aged 18 years or above admitted to the medical intensive care unit of our tertiary care hospital from January to December 2021 with the diagnosis of ARDS. Patients were divided into two groups. Group I were patients who had ARDS with COVID-19 infection while group II were those who had ARDS without COVID-19 infection. Both groups were compared in terms of clinical and respiratory mechanics of mechanical ventilators and mortality. Results: The study included 135 patients, 68 of whom were in group I, and 67 were in group II. In the COVID-19 group, the median age was 60; while in the non-COVID-19 group, it was 64. There were 50% male patients in both groups. ARDS was more severe in COVID-19 (n = 44, 58%) than in the non-COVID group (n = 31, 41.3%, p-value = 0.030). The median PaO2/FiO2 ratio was 122.5 (interquartile range [IQR]: 93-160) in COVID-19 and was 180 (IQR: 127-248) in the non-COVID-19 group. Patient proning was higher (63% vs. 37%) in the COVID-19 group. In the COVID-19 group, 44 patients died compared to 32 in the non-COVID group (p-value = 0.060). Conclusions: COVID-19 patients had severe ARDS compared with non-COVID patients. Despite this, ventilator mechanics and mortality were not significantly different between both groups. It appears that more proning strategies were observed in the COVID-19 group and may have some positive effects.

Diffused sunlight assisted green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Cotoneaster nummularia polar extract for antimicrobial and wound healing applications.

The current study reports the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) using a polar extract of Cotoneaster nummularia leaves. Various analytical techniques, like UV-Vis spectrophotometry, FT-IR spectroscopy, XRD, SEM, and EDX were employed for characterisation. These techniques confirmed the stability of Ag NPs in solution and endorsed the interaction between different groups and Ag, crystal phase, surface morphology, and size of Ag NPs. UV-Vis spectrophotometer displayed SPR absorption bands ranging from 380 to 470 nm, characteristic of Ag NPs, within 1.0 h exposure to sunlight. XRD and SEM discovered the face-centered cubic crystals of Ag NPs with a 122.8 ± 1.1 nm average diameter. The bands at 525 cm-1 in FT-IR spectrum supported the development of Ag NPs. The Ag NPs showed antimicrobial potential against three pathogenic bacterial strains and two fungal strains. The wound healing results, as studied by tissue re-development and wound closure in rabbits were comparable to standard Sufre tulle® dressing.

Acute myocardial infarction from a lower-middle income country-A comprehensive report on performance measures and quality metrics using National Cardiovascular Data Registry.

INTRODUCTION: Epidemic of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is widely projected in South Asian population and estimated to get double in two decades. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the spectrums of CVD and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) being the common manifestations of IHD. National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) is a registry data that measure their practices and improve quality of care. In this project we aim to see our performance trends in the care of IHD including AMI patients over two year's period. MATERIAL & METHODS: A cross sectional study conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. All patients aged 18 years and above admitted to adult Cardiology units with chest pain and acute coronary syndrome are eligible to be included in NCDR data set. Data on demographics and initial characteristics of patients were extracted from NCDR institutional dataset. The data was then compared between 2019 and 2020 on performance, quality, and efficiency metrics. RESULT: In 2019 to 2020, 1542 patients with acute coronary syndrome and stable ischemic heart disease were admitted. Out of these, 1042 patients (67.8%) were males. According to our data, the 2020 mortality rate was about 5.25%. In 2019 and 2020, bleeding rates were 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively. Our data showed 100% PCI in 90 minutes in 2019 while 87% in 2020. According to the appropriateness criteria for PCI, 80% were appropriate, while 20% were possibly appropriate in both years. The median length of stay following a procedure was 2 days in 2019 and 1 day in 2020. CONCLUSION: This study described the common and unique characteristics of patients with myocardial infarction representing population from South Asian region. Overall, the procedural performance measure and outcome metrics are up to the international benchmarks. Cultural, financial, and pandemic effects identified certain challenges.

Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity of Amorphized LaCoO3 for Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Amorphous inorganic perovskites have attracted significant attention as efficient electrocatalysts due to their unique structural flexibility and good catalytic activity. In particular, the disordered structure and a surface rich in defects such as oxygen vacancies can contribute to the superior electrocatalytic activity of amorphous oxides compared to their crystalline counterpart. In this work, we report the synthesis of LaCoO3 , followed by an amorphization process through urea reduction with tailored modifications. The as-synthesized catalysts were thoroughly tested for their performance in oxygen evolution reaction (OER), Remarkably, the amorphous LaCoO3 synthesized at 450 °C (referred to as LCO-4) exhibits excellent OER catalytic activity. At an overpotential of 310 mV, it achieved a current density of 10 mA/cm-2 , exceedingly fast to 1 A/cm-2 at an overpotential of only 460 mV. Moreover, LCO-4 exhibited several advantageous features compared to pristine LaCoO3 and LaCoO3 amorphized at other two temperatures (350 °C, LCO-3, and 550 °C, LCO-5). The amorphized LCO-4 catalyst showed a higher electrochemically active surface area, a key factor in boosting catalytic performance. Additionally, LCO-4 demonstrated the lowest Tafel slope of 70 mVdec-1 , further highlighting its exceptional OER activity. Furthermore, the long-term stability of LCO-4 is notably superior than pristine LaCoO3 (LCO-P) and the other amorphized samples (LCO-3 and LCO-5). The enhanced catalytic activity of LCO-4 can be attributed to its unique disordered structure, small crystallite size, and higher concentration of oxygen vacancies in the final catalyst.

Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation score and mortality of patients admitted to intermediate care units of a hospital in a low- and middle-income country: A cross-sectional study from Pakistan.

Background: Intermediate care units (IMCUs) serve as a bridge between general wards and intensive care units by providing close monitoring and rapid response to medical emergencies. We aim to identify the common acute medical conditions in patients admitted to IMCU and compare the predicted mortality of these conditions by acute physiology and chronic health evaluation-II (APACHE-II) score with actual mortality. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital from 2017 to 2019. All adult internal medicine patients admitted to IMCUs were included. Acute conditions were defined as those of short duration (<3 weeks) that require hospitalization. The APACHE-II score was used to determine the severity of these patients' illnesses. Results: Mean (standard deviation [SD]) age was 62 (16.5) years, and 493 (49.2%) patients were male. The top three acute medical conditions were acute and chronic kidney disease in 399 (39.8%), pneumonia in 303 (30.2%), and urinary tract infections (UTIs) in 211 (21.1%). The mean (SD) APACHE-II score of these patients was 12.5 (5.4). The highest mean APACHE-II (SD) score was for acute kidney injury (14.7 ± 4.8), followed by sepsis/septic shock (13.6 ± 5.1) and UTI (13.4 ± 5.1). Sepsis/septic shock was associated with the greatest mortality (odds ratio [OR]: 6.9 [95% CI (confidence interval): 4.5-10.6]), followed by stroke (OR: 3.9 [95% CI: 1.9-8.3]) and pneumonia (OR: 3.0 [95% CI: 2.0-4.5]). Conclusions: Sepsis/septic shock, stroke, and pneumonia are the leading causes of death in our IMCUs. The APACHE-II score predicted mortality for most acute medical conditions but underestimated the risk for sepsis and stroke.

The enlightening role of explainable artificial intelligence in medical & healthcare domains: A systematic literature review.

In domains such as medical and healthcare, the interpretability and explainability of machine learning and artificial intelligence systems are crucial for building trust in their results. Errors caused by these systems, such as incorrect diagnoses or treatments, can have severe and even life-threatening consequences for patients. To address this issue, Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) has emerged as a popular area of research, focused on understanding the black-box nature of complex and hard-to-interpret machine learning models. While humans can increase the accuracy of these models through technical expertise, understanding how these models actually function during training can be difficult or even impossible. XAI algorithms such as Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations (LIME) and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) can provide explanations for these models, improving trust in their predictions by providing feature importance and increasing confidence in the systems. Many articles have been published that propose solutions to medical problems by using machine learning models alongside XAI algorithms to provide interpretability and explainability. In our study, we identified 454 articles published from 2018-2022 and analyzed 93 of them to explore the use of these techniques in the medical domain.

Arsenic fractionation and speciation in different textured soils supplied with farmyard manure and accumulation by sunflower under alkaline calcareous conditions.

Arsenic (As) is a naturally occurring element that is found in soil, water, and rocks. However, it can also be released into the environment through human activities. Arsenic is considered an environmental hazard because it is toxic to humans and animals and can cause serious health problems. Additionally, As-contaminated soil can limit plant growth and reduce crop yields, leading to economic losses for farmers. So, decreasing metal/metalloid solubility in soil by synthetic and organic amendments leads to better crop productivity on contaminated soils. The current study aimed to evaluate farmyard manure (FYM)-mediated changes in soil arsenic (As) behavior, and subsequent effects on achene yield of sunflower. Treatment plan comprised of two As levels, i.e., As-60 (60 mg kg-1) and As-120 (120 mg kg-1), four FYM levels (0, 20, 35, and 50 g kg-1), three textural types (sandy, loamy and clayey), and replicated thrice. Seven As fractions including water soluble-As (WS-As), labile-As (L-As), calcium-bound As (Ca-As), aluminum-bound As (Al-As), iron-bound As (Fe-As), organic-matter-bound As (OM-As), and residual-As (R-As) were determined which differed significantly (P ≤ 0.05) with FYM and soil texture. FYM supplementation decreased WS-As, L-As, Ca-As, and Al-As while increased Fe-As, OM-As, and R-As. The immobilizing effect of FYM increased with increasing its rate of application, and maximum effect was found in clayey soil. As speciation in soil also significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected by FYM and soil texture, with a reduction in arsenate while increase in arsenite, mono-methyl arsenate, and di-methyl arsenate with increasing the rate of FYM supplementation. Bioaccumulation factor reduced with FYM addition, and highest reduction of 38.65 and 42.13% in sandy, 34.24 and 36.26% in loamy while 29.16 and 35.10% in clayey soils at As-60 and As-120, respectively, by 50 g kg-1 FYM compared with respective As treatments without FYM. As accumulation in plant parts was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) reduced by FYM with the subsequent improvement in achene yield.

Aconitum lycoctonum L. (Ranunculaceae) mediated biogenic synthesis of silver nanoparticles as potential antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antidiabetic agents.

In this study, a polar extract of Aconitum lycoctonum L. was used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), followed by their characterization using different techniques and evaluation of their potential as antioxidants, amylase inhibitors, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial agents. The formation of AgNPs was detected by a color change, from transparent to dark brown, within 15 min and a surface resonance peak at 460 nm in the UV-visible spectrum. The FTIR spectra confirmed the involvement of various biomolecules in the synthesis of AgNPs. The average diameter of these spherical AgNPs was 67 nm, as shown by the scanning electron micrograph. The inhibition zones showed that the synthesized nanoparticles inhibited the growth of Gram-positive and negative bacteria. FRAP and DPPH assays were used to demonstrate the antioxidant potential of AgNPs. The highest value of FRAP (50.47% AAE/mL) was detected at a concentration of 90 ppm and a DPPH scavenging activity of 69.63% GAE was detected at a concentration of 20 µg/mL of the synthesized AgNPs. 500 µg/mL of the synthesized AgNPs were quite efficient in causing 91.78% denaturation of ovalbumin. The AgNPs mediated by A. lycoctonum also showed an inhibitory effect on α-amylase. Therefore, AgNPs synthesized from A. lycoctonum may serve as potential candidates for antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antidiabetic agents.

SentiUrdu-1M: A large-scale tweet dataset for Urdu text sentiment analysis using weakly supervised learning.

Low-resource languages are gaining much-needed attention with the advent of deep learning models and pre-trained word embedding. Though spoken by more than 230 million people worldwide, Urdu is one such low-resource language that has recently gained popularity online and is attracting a lot of attention and support from the research community. One challenge faced by such resource-constrained languages is the scarcity of publicly available large-scale datasets for conducting any meaningful study. In this paper, we address this challenge by collecting the first-ever large-scale Urdu Tweet Dataset for sentiment analysis and emotion recognition. The dataset consists of a staggering number of 1, 140, 821 tweets in the Urdu language. Obviously, manual labeling of such a large number of tweets would have been tedious, error-prone, and humanly impossible; therefore, the paper also proposes a weakly supervised approach to label tweets automatically. Emoticons used within the tweets, in addition to SentiWordNet, are utilized to propose a weakly supervised labeling approach to categorize extracted tweets into positive, negative, and neutral categories. Baseline deep learning models are implemented to compute the accuracy of three labeling approaches, i.e., VADER, TextBlob, and our proposed weakly supervised approach. Unlike the weakly supervised labeling approach, the VADER and TextBlob put most tweets as neutral and show a high correlation between the two. This is largely attributed to the fact that these models do not consider emoticons for assigning polarity.

Genetic Investigation of Consanguineous Pakistani Families Segregating Rare Spinocerebellar Disorders.

Spinocerebellar disorders are a vast group of rare neurogenetic conditions, generally characterized by overlapping clinical symptoms including progressive cerebellar ataxia, spastic paraparesis, cognitive deficiencies, skeletal/muscular and ocular abnormalities. The objective of the present study is to identify the underlying genetic causes of the rare spinocerebellar disorders in the Pakistani population. Herein, nine consanguineous families presenting different spinocerebellar phenotypes have been investigated using whole exome sequencing. Sanger sequencing was performed for segregation analysis in all the available individuals of each family. The molecular analysis of these families identified six novel pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants; ZFYVE26: c.1093del, SACS: c.1201C>T, BICD2: c.2156A>T, ALS2: c.2171-3T>G, ALS2: c.3145T>A, and B4GALNT1: c.334_335dup, and three already reported pathogenic variants; FA2H: c.159_176del, APTX: c.689T>G, and SETX: c.5308_5311del. The clinical features of all patients in each family are concurrent with the already reported cases. Hence, the current study expands the mutation spectrum of rare spinocerebellar disorders and implies the usefulness of next-generation sequencing in combination with clinical investigation for better diagnosis of these overlapping phenotypes.

The development of chiral metal-organic frameworks for enantioseparation of racemates.

MIL-101(Cr), an achiral metal-organic framework, made up of a terephthalic acid ligand and a metal chromium ion was selected as a template. Its structural features are unsaturated Lewis acid sites that can be easily activated and it has an extremely high specific surface area, big pore size, and good thermal/chemical/water stability. This achiral framework was modified to introduce chirality within the structure to develop chiral metal-organic frameworks (CMOFs). Here, natural chiral ligands, amino acids (l-proline, l-thioproline and l-tyrosine), were selected for post synthetic modification (PSM) of MIL-101(Cr). This is a very simple, clean and facile methodology with respect to the reactants and reaction conditions. CMOFs 1-3 abbreviated as MIL-101-l-proline (CMOF-1), MIL-101-l-thioproline (CMOF-2) and MIL-101-l-tyrosine (CMOF-3) were prepared by introducing l-proline, l-thioproline and l-tyrosine as chiral moieties within the framework of (Cr). These CMOFs were characterized by FTIR, PXRD, SEM, and thermo gravimetric analysis. Chirality within these CMOFs 1-3 was established by circular dichroism (CD) and polarimetric methods. These three CMOFs 1-3 showed enantioselectivity towards RS-ibuprofen, RS-mandelic acid and RS-1-phenylethanol to varying extents. Their enantioselectivity towards racemates was studied by chiral HPLC and polarimetry.

Improved Photocatalytic and Antioxidant Activity of Olive Fruit Extract-Mediated ZnO Nanoparticles.

Photodegradation is an efficient strategy for the removal of organic pollutants from wastewater. Due to their distinct properties and extensive applications, semiconductor nanoparticles have emerged as promising photocatalysts. In this work, olive (Olea Europeae) fruit extract-based zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO@OFE NPs) were successfully biosynthesized using a one-pot sustainable method. The prepared ZnO NPs were systematically characterized using UV-Vis, FTIR, SEM, EDX and XRD and their photocatalytic and antioxidant activity was evaluated. SEM demonstrated the formation of spheroidal nanostructures (57 nm) of ZnO@OFE and the EDX analysis confirmed its composition. FTIR suggested the modification/capping of the NPs with functional groups of phytochemicals from the extract. The sharp XRD reflections revealed the crystalline nature of the pure ZnO NPs with the most stable hexagonal wurtzite phase. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized catalysts was evaluated by measuring the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) dyes under sunlight irradiation. Improved degradation efficiencies of 75% and 87% were achieved within only 180 min with photodegradation rate constant k of 0.008 and 0.013 min-1 for MB and MO, respectively. The mechanism of degradation was proposed. Additionally, ZnO@OFE NPs exhibited potent antioxidant activity against DPPH, hydroxyl, peroxide and superoxide radicals. Hence, ZnO@OFE NPs may have potential as a cost-effective and green photocatalyst for wastewater treatment.

Determination of Copper at Extended Dose Levels of Copper (II)-acetylsalicylate and Pharmacokinetics Applications.

Rheumatoid arthritis has long been treated with acetylsalicylic acid, despite many side effects, including gastric ulcers. These side effects can be curtailed by preparing the metal complexes of8 acetylsalicylic acid, such as copper (II)-acetylsalicylate (CAS). Present study evaluates the pharmacokinetics parameters of CAS and the level of copper at extended dose levels using rabbit model. The concentrations of CAS and copper in plasma samples were determined by validated HPLC and atomic absorption spectroscopic (AAS) methods, respectively. Three doses, 1-3 mg Kg-1 were orally administered to six rabbits with two wash out periods. The blood samples were collected at different time intervals for 24 hours. The peak drug concentration (Cmax) for these doses at a time to peak drug concentration (tmax) 0.5 h was determined to be 0.38, 0.76 and 1.14 µg mL-1. The half-life of drug (t1/2) was 8.67, 8.73 and 8.81 h, which are perfect results for once a day dosing. The values of volume of distribution (Vd) and clearance (Cl) for CAS were 829, 833 and 837 L Kg-1 and 66.30, 66.74 and 66.95 L h-1, respectively. The AAS results showed that copper levels in rabbit blood plasma were increased with increasing the dosage of CAS, but still remains under the safer limit, which was twofold higher than the reported safe limit.

Association and outcomes of bacterial infections with acute coronary syndrome; a cross-sectional study from a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the association between acute infection and acute coronary syndrome, and to evaluate the outcomes in such cases. METHODS: The cross-sectional, retrospective, analytical study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from July to December 2020, and comprised data from January to December 2019 of acute coronary syndrome patients aged >18 years. Data related to demographics, comorbidities, smoking status and history of dyslipidaemia. Binary logistic regression was used to explore the association of infections with acute coronary syndrome. Data was analysed using SPSS 26. RESULTS: Of the 1202 patients with acute coronary syndrome, 189(15.7%) had infection before the coronary event. The mean age of the patients was 68.5±12.4 years, and 97(51.3%) of them were females. Community-acquired pneumonia was found in 105(55.6%) patients, followed by urinary tract infection 64(33.9%) and cellulitis 8(4.2%). For pneumonia, the odds of having non-ST elevated myocardial infarction was 1.1 (95% confidence interval: 0.4-3.0). With urinary tract infections, unstable angina was associated with an odd ratio of 4.2 (95% confidence interval: 1-17.4), and ST elevated myocardial infarction was associated with odd ratio of 3.7 (95% confidence interval: 0.4-31). CONCLUSIONS: Bacterial infections were found to be associated with acute coronary syndrome. Bacterial infections with pneumonia and urinary tract infections showed a higher risk of myocardial ischaemia..

Toxic effects of cadmium on the physiological and biochemical attributes of plants, and phytoremediation strategies: A review.

Anthropogenic activities pose a more significant threat to the environment than natural phenomena by contaminating the environment with heavy metals. Cadmium (Cd), a highly poisonous heavy metal, has a protracted biological half-life and threatens food safety. Plant roots absorb Cd due to its high bioavailability through apoplastic and symplastic pathways and translocate it to shoots through the xylem with the help of transporters and then to the edible parts via the phloem. The uptake and accumulation of Cd in plants pose deleterious effects on plant physiological and biochemical processes, which alter the morphology of vegetative and reproductive parts. In vegetative parts, Cd stunts root and shoot growth, photosynthetic activities, stomatal conductance, and overall plant biomass. Plants' male reproductive parts are more prone to Cd toxicity than female reproductive parts, ultimately affecting their grain/fruit production and survival. To alleviate/avoid/tolerate Cd toxicity, plants activate several defense mechanisms, including enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, Cd-tolerant gene up-regulations, and phytohormonal secretion. Additionally, plants tolerate Cd through chelating and sequestering as part of the intracellular defensive mechanism with the help of phytochelatins and metallothionein proteins, which help mitigate the harmful effects of Cd. The knowledge on the impact of Cd on plant vegetative and reproductive parts and the plants' physiological and biochemical responses can help selection of the most effective Cd-mitigating/avoiding/tolerating strategy to manage Cd toxicity in plants.

Covid-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis with extensive cavitary pneumonia: A case report.

Covid-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) is a new entity and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Covid-19 is a pro-inflammatory and immunosuppressive disease, provoking fungal infections, especially by Aspergillus species. We describe the case of a critically ill Covid-19 female patient, who was diagnosed with CAPA infection and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). She was given intravenous Remdesivir. Her chest X-ray a few days after admission showed multiple cavities. Her condition initially improved but deteriorated again, with worsening hypoxia and pneumothorax and multiple cavitary lesions on HRCT of the chest. Despite optimal treatment, she could not recover. Interestingly, she had no predisposing risk factor for pulmonary aspergillosis, such as chronic lung disease, diabetes or use of immunosuppressants such as Tocilizumab. CAPA is an emerging entity with worsening hypoxia, and failure to improve can be an early sign. Early identification and treatment can improve survival and outcomes in Covid-19 patients.