Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: Part B最新文献

{"title":"Genetic Analysis of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism of TLL1 Gene (rs17047200) in Patients of Hepatocellular Carcinoma","authors":"Saima Sharif, Sadia Ashraf, Shagufta Naz, Sher Zaman Saf, Muhammad Saqib","doi":"10.53560/ppasb(59-2)695","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53560/ppasb(59-2)695","url":null,"abstract":"To find out the association of polymorphism of the TLL1 gene in hepatocellular carcinoma. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2020 to September 2020. Subjects were enrolled from Mayo Hospital, Lahore, Jinnah Hospital Lahore and the Liver Transplant Unit of Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore. A total of 200 individuals were registered and segregated into the Control group (n=100) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) group (n=100). DNA was extracted from obtained blood samples and Restriction Fragments Length Polymorphism (RFLP) was carried out at the laboratories of LCWU by using specific primers and restriction endonuclease enzymes. The data were analyzed statistically. The high proportion of smoking, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, cirrhosis and Body Mass Index (BMI) were established risk factors in the HCC group. Subjects with hepatocellular carcinoma had low socioeconomic status. Heterozygous bands in the HCC group were observed after RFLP. TLL1 genotype was AA (72 %) and AT/TT (28 %). The patient’s clinical aspects were similar across TLL1 genotypes. It was concluded that RFLP on the exon region by using their specific enzymes HpyCH4III showed heterozygous bands in the HCC group that indicated a mutation in the TLL1 gene though this mutation does have a significant association with HCC.","PeriodicalId":36960,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: Part B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44265508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Community Composition of Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) along Elevational Gradients in Phulchowki Hill, Lalitpur, Nepal","authors":"Sushma Dhakal, Nabina Budhathoki, I. Subedi","doi":"10.53560/ppasb(59-2)712","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53560/ppasb(59-2)712","url":null,"abstract":"Beetles are recognized as important bio-indicators of the ecosystem that can be used to determine species diversity, genetic diversity and ecosystem diversity. We investigated the species composition and diversity of beetles in four seasons along elevational gradients in Phulchowki hill from June 2018 to May 2019. Sampling was done using pitfall traps in five sites located at 1500 m, 1800 m, 2100 m, 2400 m and 2700 m altitude respectively. Overall, we documented 43 morphospecies under 37 genera and 12 families from the study area. Scarabaeidae was the most dominant family whereas Onthophagus sp.2 being the most abundant species in our study. The Shannon-Weiner diversity index, species richness and abundance were highest at 1500 m. Furthermore, diversity and species richness were highest in the spring, whereas peak beetle abundance was observed in summer. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to analyze the distribution patterns of the beetle families along the elevational gradients. PCA revealed a strong association of the Carabidae family with 1500 m, 1800 m and 2100 m altitude whereas the Scarabaeidae family were mostly associated with human-influenced areas such as 1500 m and 2700 m altitude. The generalized linear model (GLM) revealed that temperature had a major impact on the overall beetle composition.","PeriodicalId":36960,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: Part B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49303684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Proceedings of the MAAP-PAS-ANSO Hybrid Workshop on \"Ecosystem Restoration: One-Health and Pandemics\"","authors":"Asiya Nawaz, Naveera Khan, Hanbal Ahmad, Irum Iqrar, Muhammad Ali, Zabta Khan Shinwari","doi":"10.53560/ppasb(59-2)724","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53560/ppasb(59-2)724","url":null,"abstract":"Humanity is currently dealing with a number of interlinked existential crises. Ecological degradation, climate change, and biodiversity loss have disastrous consequences for human health and well-being. Furthermore, the emergence and transmission of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 are linked to ecosystem health. For example, zoonotic infections account for ~75% of new infectious diseases, and they are mainly caused by unsustainable resource usage, animal factory farming, and other large-scale anthropogenic influences. As these pandemics show, environmental destruction can play an important role in a worldwide public-health crisis. It is commonly agreed that COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic. We need holistic approaches like One Health (an area of research that recognizes human, animal, and ecological health as interconnected). One health seeks to increase communication and collaboration between humans, animals, and environmental health professionals to prevent the spread of diseases. To shed light on this important topic, “Ecosystem Restoration: One-Health and Pandemics; hybrid workshop” was organized by the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS) and Monbukagakhusho-MEXT Alumni Association of Pakistan (MAAP); and sponsored by the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS) and Alliance of International Science Organization (ANSO) on June 5, 2022. More than 150 participants attended the hybrid workshop. ","PeriodicalId":36960,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: Part B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46627708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Phenotypic Variability and Resource Allocation in Kashmir Sage (Phlomis cashmeriana Royle ex Benth.) in relation to Different Habitats and Altitudes","authors":"Roof Ul Qadir, Hanan Javid, Gowhar A. Shapoo, B. A. Wani, Junaid A Magray, I. A. Nawchoo, S. Gulzar","doi":"10.53560/ppasb(59-2)707","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53560/ppasb(59-2)707","url":null,"abstract":"Phlomis cashmeriana Royle ex Benth. commonly known as Kashmir sage is a rare and important medicinal plant growing in Kashmir Himalaya. The current study is the first of its kind, carried out to find the impingement on growth dynamics of the plant under study along various altitudinal inclines and habitats. Extensive field surveys were   conducted during the years 2020-2021 to assess the distribution and phenotypic attributes of Phlomis cashmeriana. Three natural sites viz, Jawahar tunnel, Hillar naar, Daksum and one control population at KUBG were selected for the present work. Morphological characteristics of species were noticed to be varying extensively under different scopes  of environment. Plants thriving at lower altitudes (KUBG) were found to be growing vigorously and taller. However, the opposite scenario was observed in plants growing at higher altitudes (Jawahar tunnel). KUBG and Daksum were reasonably found to be better habitats for the growth of Phlomis cashmeriana as revealed by principal component analysis (PCA). Majority of resources were attributed towards the growth of rhizomes followed by leaf, stem, and inflorescences respectively. Variation in reproductive success was also observed along different altitudes ranging from 63.94 % to 53.40 %. The total resource budget per plant also varied among different populations with a maximum in populations growing at low altitude, KUBG (23.73±6.63) and least in populations growing at high altitude J. tunnel (12.94±7.67). We hypothesize that a heterogeneous environment is the primary cause of phenotypic variability across different altitudes, however, the role of other environmental factors should also be taken into consideration.","PeriodicalId":36960,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: Part B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44513620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Locust Attack: Managing and Control Strategies by the Government of Pakistan","authors":"Muhammad Usman, Muhammad Ijaz, Mariam Aziz, Muhammad Hassan, Agha Mushtaque, D. M. Soomro, Saif Ali","doi":"10.53560/ppasb(59-2)718","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53560/ppasb(59-2)718","url":null,"abstract":"During outbreaks of Schistocerca gregaria, the desert locust swarms, and plagues known to infest numerous regions across wide areas of Asia and Africa. The locust devours large amounts of crops and rangeland flora. Recently the locust outbreak began in June 2018 in Saudi Arabia’s distant areas and entered in Pakistan March 2019, destroying main crops such as cotton, wheat, rice and maize in many districts across Baluchistan, Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. On February 1, 2020, a national emergency was proclaimed, and the Plant Protection department countered by launching monitoring and prevention activities with the help of other institutions in Pakistan, as well as global and bilateral organizations. Surveillance and control activities were carried out with the majority of the insecticide formulations being oil-based ultra-low volume, nonconventional and green technology approaches. In addition, the Pakistani government devised a comprehensive phase wised management strategy as well as a National Locust Control Center with fast retort troops deployed in critical areas. Additional surveillance and control measures are needed to stop or alleviate desert locust-related agriculture damages. The unusual characteristics of the desert locust, as well as the size and frequency of swarming events, make developing and implementing IPM measures difficult. The state of prospective integrated measures to control locusts is discussed, as well as proactive and preventive intervention options.","PeriodicalId":36960,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: Part B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45046579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bibliometric Analysis of Proceedings of the Paksitan Academy of Sciences: Part B from 2016 to 2021","authors":"Waseem Hassan","doi":"10.53560/ppasb(59-2)683","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53560/ppasb(59-2)683","url":null,"abstract":"Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: Part B (Life and Environmental Sciences) is the official flagship journal of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. It publishes in the fields of agricultural, biological, environmental and health sciences. Scopus database is directly covering it since 2016 and till 19th April 2022, it has published 210 research documents majorly comprising of articles (n=141), book chapters (n=36), conference papers (n=26), reviews (n=6) and one (n=1) note. It also received 232 total citations. We extracted the publication data from Scopus in BibTeX format and analyzed it on R-Studio. In all publications, 313 authors from 278 institutes or universities from 14 Asian, 6 European, 2 Middle East, 1 Oceanic (Australia), 2 North American, 1 South American (Brazil) and 3 African countries have contributed. The country co-authorship network (constructed on Vosviewer) is presented in Supplemnetaty data (Figure 1). The lists of all authors (with total publications (TP), total citations (TC), publications years, h-index, g-index and m-index), all universities (with TP) and countries (with TP) are provided in supplementary data (Table 1, 2 & 3). It has achieved considerable CiteScore (0.6), SJR (0.143) and SNIP (0.347) calculated on 05th May 2022 by Scopus for the year 2021. The success could be attributed to the editorial board (which has experts from Pakistan, Australia, Canada, China, USA, Turkey, Oman, Malaysia, and Indonesia), reviewers, authors, and editorial management. The number of publications, citations and its foothold in different countries confirm that the journal’s reputation is significantly improving","PeriodicalId":36960,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: Part B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44415314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigation of Prevalence and Awareness of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome among Pakistani Females","authors":"Shumaila Zulfiqar, S. Noor, Huda Rafique, B. Rehman, Aleefia Babar, T. Shahid, Azka Abid, Munnaza Abdul Razzaq, Sobia Gulraiz, Shanzeh Tahir, I. Anjum","doi":"10.53560/ppasb(59-1)703","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53560/ppasb(59-1)703","url":null,"abstract":"Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a polygenic, endocrine disorder causing ovarian dysfunction. This syndrome encompasses a broad spectrum of phenotypic expression due to heterogeneity. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and phenotypic factors contributing to the onset of PCOS in Pakistani women. Participating females (n=130) were recruited from different regions of Pakistan explicitly those who were trying to conceive for years. We designed a questionnaire having different subsections comprising questions related to psychological and environmental aspects linked with PCOS. We also analyzed the proportion of women having prior awareness about the genetic basis of the disease. The retrieved data was analyzed through SPSS V.21 by employing descriptive statistics. A Chi-square test was used to establish a correlation between PCOS and associated symptoms. Our findings suggest that factors like obesity, facial and abdomen hair growth, irregular periods, menstrual flow, cramps, and hormonal acne corresponds to PCOS in participating females with a p-value (0.000 < 0.05). Around half of the participants were reported to be experiencing one or other symptom related to PCOS from which hirsutism and anxiety were the most common. Furthermore, our findings indicate that multiple psychological and environmental factors contribute to the onset of the disease with a P-Value (0.000 < 0.05). However, a significantly higher p-value (0.247 > 0.05) for excessive hair loss in participants were observed demonstrating that hair loss is not linked with PCOS. In this survey, 46.5 % of participants responded that they know that PCOS can be inherited. 28.5 % of women responded that they had a family history of PCOS. Adopting a healthy lifestyle and maintaining a healthy weight can minimize the severity of PCOS. This survey evaluates different hypotheses which would facilitate a better understanding of the prevalence and associated symptoms of PCOS in Pakistan thereby enabling researchers to develop better diagnostic, management, and treatment strategies for patients.","PeriodicalId":36960,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: Part B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44220108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adoption and Cost-benefit Analysis of Drip Irrigation for Production of High-Value Crops in Pakistan","authors":"A. Hussain, S. Majeed, Abdul-Razzak O. Hassan, Mohsin Ali Khathian, Muhammad Zahid Ullah Khan, I. Raza, J. K. Bajkani","doi":"10.53560/ppasb(59-1)690","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53560/ppasb(59-1)690","url":null,"abstract":"Drip irrigation is regarded as one of the highly efficient methods that allow limited water resources to be properly utilized. The study has been conducted to perform the economic analysis of low and high head drip irrigation systems throughout the country based on data from 100 adopters of drip irrigation through a research & development project funded by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA-Pakistan)/United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). A field survey for the study was conducted in the year 2018 in all the provinces of Pakistan. The study revealed that technology is generally adopted by the farmers having diversified income sources and medium-sized land holdings i.e. ranging from 12.5 to 25 acres. System installation cost-shared 11 percent in low-head drip system of the annual production cost of fruits. While, it shared 29, 32, and 27 percent in case of a high-head system for grapes orchards, vegetables in tunnels, and open fields, respectively. Low-head drip irrigation is profitable for dates/ lemon orchards in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 1.27:1.00. It results in considerable profitability for grapes orchards with BCR of 1.73:1.00 and 1.32:100 in Punjab and Balochistan provinces, respectively. The low-head system is also beneficial for mixed fruit orchards in rain-fed Punjab with a BCR of 1.24:1.00. Similarly, for high-head systems, the benefit-cost ratio was the highest for grapes produced in rain-fed Punjab (2.62:1.00), followed by squash-gourd in irrigated Sindh (2.17:1.00) bitter-gourd in rain-fed Punjab (1.50:1.00) and okra in Sindh (1.22:1.00). However, low and high-head systems could not result in considerable returns for farmers in the case of mixed fruits in Balochistan and cucumber production in tunnels in Punjab province during the study year.","PeriodicalId":36960,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: Part B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44581110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of Stevia rebaudiana Culturing in Liquid Medium: Elevation of Yield and Biomass, Mitigation of Steviol Glycosides","authors":"R. Javed, Buhara Yücesan","doi":"10.53560/ppasb(59-1)704","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53560/ppasb(59-1)704","url":null,"abstract":"An efficient micropropagation system is developed by culturing nodal segments containing the axillary shoot buds on liquid Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium. Direct shoot and root formation are highly effective in both solid and liquid MS media without any plant growth regulators (PGRs). Interestingly, a significant difference in yield is obtained between solid and liquid cultures. It is revealed that a relatively higher amount of plant biomass is obtained after culturing for 4 weeks in a liquid MS medium. However, the shoots produced on solid MS medium produce a remarkable decline in all physiological parameters. On contrary, the bioactive steviol glycosides (rebaudioside-A and stevioside) content is higher in shoots grown in solid MS on a comparative basis, which could be compensated by higher yield. After hardening off, all the regenerants are effectively grown in the field with a negligible loss (<1 %), and steviol glycosides spectra is again obtained by conducting high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis after 10 weeks of the plantation. This method has great potential to be applied on large scale in bioreactors.","PeriodicalId":36960,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: Part B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48315547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Frequency of Different Types of Endothelial Corneal Dystrophies by Age, Gender, and Visual Acuity in Punjab, Pakistan","authors":"S. Naz, Afia Iqbal, S. Sharif, Haiba Kaul, Aysha Khush Bakht, Shama Sadaf","doi":"10.53560/ppasb(59-1)670","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53560/ppasb(59-1)670","url":null,"abstract":"Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (ECD) is, by definition, an endogenous degeneration that progresses slowly in the corneal endothelium as a result of genetic predisposition. A transverse study was conducted from September 2018 to June 2019, and the subjects affected with ECD were examined by visiting various city hospitals in Punjab including Sahiwal, Narowal, Okara, Gujranwala, Kasur, Lahore, and Multan. The basic objective of the current investigation was to find the frequency of different types of ECD in the population of different cities in Punjab. Data was collected based on relevant parameters such as age, gender, and visual acuity. The visual acuity was assessed by ophthalmologists via Snellen chart and Visual acuity test. Among 3000 patients, 6.6 % (n=198) cases of ECD were recognized which includes more males 52.52 % (n=104) as compared to females 47.48 % (n=94). Maximum cases of ECD 31.82 % (n=63) were observed in the 41-50 years of age group. In all types of ECD, FECD was observed most abundant with 38.38 % (n=76) and XECD with the least abundance of 6.67 % (n=13). The frequency of CHED and PPCD was 25.25 % (n=50) and 29.79 % (n=59) respectively. The results of recent research finalize that endothelial corneal dystrophy is a rare disease prevailing in Pakistan with a proportion of only 6.6 %. This study benefits in updating the data about the frequency of endothelial corneal dystrophy in Pakistan. Careful clinical evaluation, initial diagnosis, genetic counseling, genotyping, and correct treatment are necessary for the restoration of vision loss due to ECD.","PeriodicalId":36960,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: Part B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45106316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}