CeO2-x nanorods with intrinsic urease-like activity.

The large-scale production and ecotoxicity of urea make its removal from wastewater a health and environmental challenge. Whereas the industrial removal of urea relies on hydrolysis at elevated temperatures and high pressure, nature solves the urea disposal problem with the enzyme urease under ambient conditions. We show that CeO2-x nanorods (NRs) act as the first and efficient green urease mimic that catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea under ambient conditions with an activity (kcat = 9.58 × 101 s-1) about one order of magnitude lower than that of the native jack bean urease. The surface properties of CeO2-x NRs were probed by varying the Ce4+/Ce3+ ratio through La doping. Although La substitution increased the number of surface defects, the reduced number of Ce4+ sites with higher Lewis acidity led to a slight decrease of their catalytic activity. CeO2-x NRs are stable against pH changes and even to the presence of transition metal ions like Cu2+, one of the strongest urease inhibitors. The low costs and environmental compatibility make CeO2-x NRs a green urease substitute that may be applied in polymer membranes for water processing or filters for the waste water reclamation. The biomimicry approach allows the application of CeO2-x NRs as functional enzyme mimics where the use of native or recombinant enzyme is hampered because of its costs or operational stability.

Effects of Varying Levels of Fungal (Arachniotus sp.) Treated Wheat Straw as an Ingredient of Total Mixed Ration on Growth Performance and Nutrient Digestibility in Nili Ravi Buffalo Calves.

The study was carried out to explore the effects of replacing wheat straw with fungal treated wheat straw as an ingredient of total mixed ration (TMR) on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility in Nili Ravi buffalo male calves. Fungal treated wheat straw was prepared using Arachniotus sp. Four TMRs were formulated where wheat straw was replaced with 0 (TMR1), 33 (TMR2), 67 (TMR3), and 100% (TMR4) fungal treated wheat straw in TMR. All TMRs were iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous. The experimental TMRs were randomly assigned to four groups of male calves (n = 6) according to completely randomized design and the experiment continued for four months. The calves fed TMR2 exhibited a significant improve in dry matter intake, average daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and feed economics compared to other groups. The same group also showed higher digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, neutral-, and acid detergent fibers than those fed on other TMRs. It is concluded that TMR with 33% fungal-treated wheat straw replacement has a potential to give an enhanced growth performance and nutrient digestibility in male Nili Ravi buffalo calves.

Intrinsic superoxide dismutase activity of MnO nanoparticles enhances the magnetic resonance imaging contrast.

Superoxide radicals are associated with the development of many severe diseases, such as cancer. Under nonpathogenic conditions, the natural enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) regulates the intracellular superoxide concentrations, but nearly all tumor tissues show reduced SOD levels. Selective imaging in early progression stages remains a key requirement for efficient cancer diagnosis and treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a noninvasive tool with high spatial resolution may offer advantages here, but MRI contrast agents exhibiting a redox-triggered change in the image contrast towards superoxide radicals have not been reported so far. Here we show that manganese oxide (MnO) nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit an intrinsic SOD-like activity, which is higher than that of the native Mn-dependent SOD. In addition, MnO NPs significantly enhance the MRI contrast when exposed to superoxide radicals, making them responsive MRI contrast agents for the treatment and imaging of cancer cells with reduced SOD levels.

Suicide and attempted suicide trends in Mianwali, Pakistan: social perspective.

This study aimed to examine the epidemiology and potential causes of suicides and attempted suicide cases that were reported to Rescue 1122 Mianwali in Pakistan. The data were collected prospectively for 2011. One hundred and eight suicides were reported during the study period. Four (4%) victims were found dead at the scene and 104 (96%) were taken to hospital. There were 84(78%) men and 24(22%) women and 98 (90%) were aged 11-30 years. Toxic substances (36%), pesticides (31%) and drug overdose (11%) were the most common materials/methods used. Depression/mental illness (33%), socioeconomic conditions (24%) and unemployment (21%) were the major reasons for attempting suicide. Suicide is a sensitive and multifaceted problem that needs to be addressed in Pakistan.

Road traffic crashes in Ramadan: an observational study.

The aim of this study was to investigate trends in road traffic crashes (RTCs) managed by an emergency service, Rescue 1122, in 2011 in Punjab, Pakistan. RTC data were collected from 35 districts of Punjab and reviewed retrospectively. Data analysis revealed that the service responded to 12 969 RTC emergencies during August 2011 (Ramadan), compared with an average of 11 573 RTCs per month from January to August 2011. The younger age group (11-27 years) was victims in 29% of RTCs; 39% were due to speeding and 43% occurred in peak rush hours (14:00-18:00) before iftar (breakfast).Results of the study showed that Rescue 1122 faced more RTCs during Ramadan compared with the preceding months. Road safety is an important public health issue in Pakistan. Although there have been great improvements in roads in the past few years, much work needs to be done to deal with mounting trends in RTCs. Public awareness, political will and stringent law enforcement are key factors.

The effects of and interactions between the maturity of grass silage and concentrate starch source when offered as total mixed rations on the performance of dairy cows.

A 2 × 2 factorial feeding experiment was conducted to examine the effects of varying the maturity level of the grass used to prepare silage and the nature of concentrate starch source and their interactions on dry matter intake (DMI), diet digestibility, energy corrected milk (ECM) production and milk composition in dairy cows. Twenty-eight multiparous Swedish Red dairy cows, 133 ± 45 days in milk (DIM), with an average milk yield of 30 ± 4 kg/day and a live weight of 624 ± 69 kg were blocked by DIM and randomly assigned to seven replicated balanced 4 × 4 Latin squares with four 21-day experimental periods. The experimental diets consisted of four total mixed rations (TMR) consisting of early-cut grass silage (EGS) supplemented with either barley- or maize-based concentrate and late-cut grass silage (LGS) supplemented with either barley- or maize-based concentrate. All TMR contained identical proportions of forage (51%) and concentrate (49%). Total tract digestibility was estimated by determining indigestible NDF (iNDF) concentrations in feeds and faeces and using iNDF as an internal marker. The feeds' ruminal degradation parameters were determined using both in situ (nylon bag) and in vitro (gas production (GP)) techniques. Cows offered diets containing EGS had greater (P < 0.001) daily dry matter (DM) intakes, ECM yields and total tract digestibilities for DM and organic matter (OM), but these were not affected by the nature of the concentrate starch source. No interaction between the maturity of the silage and the nature of the concentrate starch source was observed for DMI, diet digestibility or ECM yield. Both grass silages and concentrates had similar rates of ruminal degradation of NDF when measured in situ. The in situ DM (P < 0.001) and starch (P = 0.001) degradation rates of barley-based concentrate were greater than those for maize-based concentrate. In vitro OM GP rates and extents were similar for both concentrate feeds. The results showed that diets containing EGS offered better animal performance and diet digestibility than diets containing LGS. The concentrate starch source did not affect animal performance, but total NDF digestibility was better with diet containing barley- than maize-based concentrate.

Road traffic crashes in Ramadan: an observational study

The aim of this study was to investigate trends in road traffic crashes [RTCs] managed by an emergency service, Rescue 1122, in 2011 in Punjab, Pakistan. RTC data were collected from 35 districts of Punjab and reviewed retrospectively. Data analysis revealed that the service responded to 12 969 RTC emergencies during August 2011 [Ramadan], compared with an average of 11 573 RTCs per month from January to August 2011. The younger age group [11-27 years] was victims in 29% of RTCs; 39% were due to speeding and 43% occurred in peak rush hours [14:00-18:00] before iftar [breakfast].Results of the study showed that Rescue 1122 faced more RTCs during Ramadan compared with the preceding months. Road safety is an important public health issue in Pakistan. Although there have been great improvements in roads in the past few years, much work needs to be done to deal with mounting trends in RTCs. Public awareness, political will and stringent law enforcement are key factors

Characterization of begomovirus components from a weed suggests that begomoviruses may associate with multiple distinct DNA satellites.

A begomovirus disease complex associated with Sonchus arvensis, a common weed in Pakistan was studied using cloning, nucleic acid sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The complex associated with this weed consists of a monopartite begomovirus and several distinct betasatellites and alphasatellites. The monopartite begomovirus associated with yellow vein disease of Sonchus arvensis showed 95-99% nucleotide sequence identity with Alternanthera yellow vein virus (AlYVV) reported from China, Vietnam and India. Two betasatellites were isolated from S. arvensis: one sharing between 91.4 and 95.3% nucleotide sequence identity with isolates of Ageratum yellow leaf curl betasatellite (AYLCB), and the other sharing between 78.2 and 99.9% identity with isolates of Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite (CLCuMB). Two alphasatellites were identified: one was homologous to Potato leaf curl alphasatellite (PotLCuA), while the other was closely related to Hibiscus leaf curl alphasatellite (HLCuA). Thus, AlYVV in S. arvensis is associated with satellites shown previously to be associated with other begomoviruses in Pakistan. Our results suggest that monopartite begomoviruses may associate with distinct satellites that are prevalent in the region.

Dichlorobis[2-(o-tolyliminiomethyl)phenolato-O]zinc(II).

In the mononuclear title compound, [ZnCl(2)(C(14)H(13)NO)(2)], the Zn(II) ion is located on a twofold axis of the monoclinic space group so that the whole molecule has a twofold symmetry. The Zn(II) ion has a tetrahedral coordination consisting of two chlorine ions and the O atoms of the ligands. The coordination angles around zinc have values between 102.89 (8) (O-Zn-O) and 115.83 (5) degrees (Cl-Zn-O). The Zn-O and Zn-Cl bond lengths are 1.977 (2) and 2.2401 (7) A, respectively. There are intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the structure.

Thiophene-2-carbaldehyde N-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)-N-methylhydrazone.

Molecules of the title compound, C12H10N4O4S, are linked through intermolecular hydrogen bonds to form a dimeric structure. The crystal structure of the dimer is stabilized by two intermolecular hydrogen bonds of the C-H...O type. The C...O intermolecular contact distance is 3.339(3) A, and the C=N and N-N distances are 1.279(2) and 1.371(7) A, respectively. One O atom of the 2-nitro group is disordered over two sites.