Impact of riboflavin mediated photodynamic disinfection around fixed orthodontic system infected with oral bacteria.

Purpose: The aim of this laboratory study was to investigate the amount of bacterial destruction through riboflavin mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT) around fixed orthodontic devices by using the two strains of bacteria Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguinis.

Materials And Methods: A total of 80 metallic brackets were divided into four groups consisting of 20 brackets each. Group-I: riboflavin + LED irradiation; Group-II: riboflavin alone; Group-III: immersion in 0.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) detection from chest radiology images using convolutional neural networks.

Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has been spreading all over the world and its diagnosis is attracting more research every moment. It is need of the hour to develop automated methods, which could detect this disease at its early stage, in a non-invasive way and within lesser time. Currently, medical specialists are analyzing Computed Tomography (CT), X-Ray, and Ultrasound (US) images or conducting Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for its confirmation on manual basis.

Metabolic Predictors of Equine Performance in Endurance Racing.

Equine performance in endurance racing depends on the interplay between physiological and metabolic processes. However, there is currently no parameter for estimating the readiness of animals for competition. Our objectives were to provide an in-depth characterization of metabolic consequences of endurance racing and to establish a metabolic performance profile for those animals.

Saponin toxicity as key player in plant defense against pathogens.

Microbial pathogens attack every plant tissue, including leaves, roots, shoots, and flowers during all growth stages. Thus, they cause several diseases resulting in a plant's failure or loss of the whole crop in severe cases. To combat the pathogens attack, plants produce some biologically active toxic compounds known as saponins.

Biodegradable methacrylated casein for cardiac tissue engineering applications.

Casein is a naturally derived amino group (-NH) rich protein, that enables surface functionalization leading to hydrophilicity, which in turn facilitates better cell adhesion. Casein obtained from either commercial β-casein rich skim milk (A2 milk) or dissolved air flotation (DAF) technology was tested for its potential for tissue engineering applications in a comparative study. A novel biodegradable biomaterial was synthesized from casein by chemically modifying with methacrylic anhydride (MA) and combined with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) blend.

Spike glycoproteins: Their significance for corona viruses and receptor binding activities for pathogenesis and viral survival.

The recent outbreak of Covid-19 is posing a severe threat to public health globally. Coronaviruses (CoVs) are the largest known group of positive-sense RNA viruses surviving on an extensive number of natural hosts. CoVs are enveloped and non-segmented viruses with a size between 80 and 120 nm.

A dataset about anthropometric measurements of the Pakistani children and adolescents using a cross-sectional multi-ethnic anthropometric survey.

Evaluation of nutritional status is necessary during childhood and the juvenile years when the level of hydration and the adipose tissues experience significant changes. Anthropometric measurements and their derived indices are valid proxies to predict body fat, obesity (general or central) and their associated cardiovascular risks. The dataset under consideration also provides the socio-demographic related information and anthropometric measurement values related to height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HpC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHpR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), neck circumference (NC), and wrist circumference (WrC).

Epidemiological and pathological characteristics of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis from Baluchistan Province of Pakistan.

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is considered a neglected tropical disease which in Pakistan can now be considered as a growing public health problem. The exact figures on the magnitude of the disease are lacking both at the national and regional level and only a few health centres are available for diagnosis of CL. The present study was designed to identify the epidemiology of CL infection from August 2018 to December 2019 and to assess clinical aspects of CL in Baluchistan Province of Pakistan.

Designing of a next generation multiepitope based vaccine (MEV) against SARS-COV-2: Immunoinformatics and in silico approaches.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) is a significant threat to global health security. Till date, no completely effective drug or vaccine is available to cure COVID-19. Therefore, an effective vaccine against SARS-COV-2 is crucially needed.

Effect of revenge on sadism and schadenfreude in clinical and non clinical adults: moderating role of misanthropic beliefs.

Objective: To investigate the concept of moderating effect of misanthropic beliefs in the relationship involving revenge tendencies, sadism and schadenfreude among clinical and non-clinical adults.

Method: The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Psychology, University of Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan, over a period of one year from 2017 to 2018, and comprised adults aged 22-65 years in both clinical and no-clinical settings enrolled from the University of Sargodha, Punjab Institute of Mental Health and the Fountain House. Data was collected using Vengeance, Misanthropic, Short Sadistic Impulse and Perceived Schadenfreude scales.

Investigation of Entropy in Two-Dimensional Peristaltic Flow with Temperature Dependent Viscosity, Thermal and Electrical Conductivity.

This study comprehensively explores the generalized form of two-dimensional peristaltic motions of incompressible fluid through temperature-dependent physical properties in a non-symmetric channel. Generation of entropy in the system, carrying Joule heat and Lorentz force is also examined. Viscous dissipation is not ignored, for viewing in-depth, effects of heat transmission and entropy production.

Highly Stretchable and Flexible Melt Spun Thermoplastic Conductive Yarns for Smart Textiles.

This study demonstrates a scalable fabrication process for producing biodegradable, highly stretchable and wearable melt spun thermoplastic polypropylene (PP), poly(lactic) acid (PLA), and composite (PP:PLA = 50:50) conductive yarns through a dip coating process. Polydopamine (PDA) treated and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) coated conductive PP, PLA, and PP/PLA yarns generated electric conductivity of 0.75 S/cm, 0.

Identification and computational analysis of USH1C, and SLC26A4 variants in Pakistani families with prelingual hearing loss.

Hearing loss (HL) is clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorder and is the most frequent occurring sensory deficit in humans. This study was conducted to decipher the genetic cause of HL occurring in two large consanguineous Pakistani families (GCNF-01, GCNF-03). Family history and pure tone audiometry of both families suggested prelingual HL, while the affected individuals of GCNF-01 also had low vision and balance problems, consistent with cardinal features of Usher syndrome type I (USH1).

Evaluation of patient tissue selection methods for deriving equivalent density calibration for femoral bone quantitative CT analyses.

Osteoporosis affects an increasing number of people every year and patient specific finite element analysis of the femur has been proposed to identify patients that could benefit from preventative treatment. The aim of this study was to demonstrate, verify, and validate an objective process for selecting tissues for use as the basis of phantomless calibration to enable patient specific finite element analysis derived hip fracture risk prediction. Retrospective reanalysis of patient computed tomography (CT) scans has the potential to yield insights into more accurate prediction of osteoporotic fracture.

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL): A Cross-Sectional Community Based Survey on Knowledge, Attitude and Practices in a Highly Endemic Area of Waziristan (KPK Province), Pakistan.

Recent outbreaks of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) in Waziristan make the disease a public health concern in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, Pakistan. The awareness and behavior of local community towards the disease is an important factor towards effective control and management of CL in endemic areas of Pakistan. A cross-sectional community based survey was piloted in new emerging district of North Waziristan Agency (KPK province), Pakistan from August 2019- February 2020.

Diamondback Moth Larvae Trigger Host Plant Volatiles that Lure Its Adult Females for Oviposition.

The diamondback moth (DBM) is a destructive pest of crucifer crops. In this study, DBM larvae shown to herbivore induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) that were attractive to adult females exposed in a Y-tube olfactometer. Our results showed that olfactory responses of adult females to HIPVs induced by third instar larvae feeding on Barbarea vulgaris were significantly higher (20.

Characterization of mycotoxins from entomopathogenic fungi (Cordyceps fumosorosea) and their toxic effects to the development of asian citrus psyllid reared on healthy and diseased citrus plants.

Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) produce multiple mycotoxins, which play an essential role in improving fungal pathogenesis and virulence. To characterize various mycotoxins from the crude methanol extract of Cordyceps fumosorosea, a major EPF against various insect pests, we performed ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometer (UPLC-QTOF MS) technique, and all compounds were identified through molecular mass and formulae. Bassianolide was assessed against the nymphs and adults of Diaphorina citri reared on healthy and Huánglóngbìng (HLB)-diseased Citrus spp.

Biased Adjusted Poisson Ridge Estimators-Method and Application.

Månsson and Shukur (Econ Model 28:1475-1481, 2011) proposed a Poisson ridge regression estimator (PRRE) to reduce the negative effects of multicollinearity. However, a weakness of the PRRE is its relatively large bias. Therefore, as a remedy, Türkan and Özel (J Appl Stat 43:1892-1905, 2016) examined the performance of almost unbiased ridge estimators for the Poisson regression model.

Association of Serotype With Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns Among Shigella flexneri Isolates From Pakistan: The Importance of Serotype 2b.

Background: Shigella flexneri is an emerging threat in low socioeconomic countries including Pakistan. No previous data is available on the association between S. flexneri serotypes and antimicrobial resistance in Pakistan.

High-throughput characterization of the expressed antibiotic resistance genes in sewage sludge with transcriptional analysis.

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are emerging micro-pollutants that pose potential threats to environments and humans. Sewage sludge from wastewater is an important source for ARGs and current studies mainly focus on their existence in microbial genomes. However, little is known about which ARGs are expressed even though ARGs expression remains a better proxy for functional activity.

Pathogenic variants of AIPL1, MERTK, GUCY2D, and FOXE3 in Pakistani families with clinically heterogeneous eye diseases.

Significant number out of 2.2 billion vision impairments in the world can be attributed to genetics. The current study is aimed to decipher the genetic basis of Leber congenital Amaurosis (LCA), Anterior Segment dysgenesis (ASD), and Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), segregating in four large consanguineous Pakistani families.

QSAR model for predicting neuraminidase inhibitors of influenza A viruses (H1N1) based on adaptive grasshopper optimization algorithm.

High-dimensionality is one of the major problems which affect the quality of the quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) modelling. Obtaining a reliable QSAR model with few descriptors is an essential procedure in chemometrics. The binary grasshopper optimization algorithm (BGOA) is a new meta-heuristic optimization algorithm, which has been used successfully to perform feature selection.