Assessment of heavy metal contamination in leafy vegetables: implications for public health and regulatory measures.

Heavy metal contamination in leafy vegetables poses significant health risks, highlighting the urgent need for stringent monitoring and intervention measures to ensure food safety and mitigate potential adverse effects on public health. This study investigates the levels of heavy metals, including cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu), in locally grown and commercially available leafy vegetables, comparing them to the safety limits established by WHO/FAO. The results revealed that levels of Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb in the vegetables exceeded WHO/FAO limits, while Zn and Cu remained within permissible bounds.

Conservation tillage: a way to improve yield and soil properties and decrease global warming potential in spring wheat agroecosystems.

Climate change is one of the main challenges, and it poses a tough challenge to the agriculture industry globally. Additionally, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the main contributor to climate change; however, croplands are a prominent source of GHG emissions. Yet this complex challenge can be mitigated through climate-smart agricultural practices.

Risk Factors of Wasting-Based Malnutrition in the Flood-Affected Areas of Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The current study aimed to find the risk factors of wasting in flood-affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Sociodemographic and anthropometric data was collected. Children living in large family are 2.

Coordination strategies and concept of operations implemented during activation of public health emergency operations center for COVID-19 response in Pakistan.

Public health emergency management systems encountered difficulties in developing countries, especially in Pakistan. The COVID-19 pandemic was extremely challenging for different agencies/departments in Pakistan. Health emergency management depends on a well-established public health emergency operations center that could generate a coordinated response to emergencies.

Functional analysis of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in potato under biotic and abiotic stress.

Biotic and abiotic stresses are the main constrain of potato ( L.) production all over the world. To overcome these hurdles, many techniques and mechanisms have been used for increasing food demand for increasing population.

Assessment of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Implementation and Strategies Used for IPC Preparedness at Facility Level in Underdeveloped Areas of Pakistan.

Background: During outbreaks of infectious diseases like COVID-19, the healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) pose a burden on public health system. There are very limited data about infection prevention and control (IPC) implementation in the healthcare facilities of Pakistan. The aim of the study was to conduct assessment with the IPC Assessment Framework (IPCAF) tool in healthcare facilities of the least developed areas.

Comparative Gene Enrichment Analysis for Drought Tolerance in Contrasting Maize Genotype.

Drought stress is a significant abiotic factor influencing maize growth and development. Understanding the molecular mechanism of drought tolerance is critical to develop the drought tolerant genotype. The identification of the stress responsive gene is the first step to developing a drought tolerant genotype.

The role of nanoparticles in plant biochemical, physiological, and molecular responses under drought stress: A review.

Drought stress (DS) is a serious challenge for sustaining global crop production and food security. Nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as an excellent tool to enhance crop production under current rapid climate change and increasing drought intensity. DS negatively affects plant growth, physiological and metabolic processes, and disturbs cellular membranes, nutrient and water uptake, photosynthetic apparatus, and antioxidant activities.

Use of public health emergency operations center (PH-EOC) and adaptation of incident management system (IMS) for efficient inter-sectoral coordination and collaboration for effective control of Dengue fever outbreak in Pakistan - 2019.

Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PH-EOC) and Incident Management System (IMS) provides a platform for inter-sectoral coordination, and collaboration to enhance efficiency of response activities and help in effective control of disease outbreaks. Dengue fever (DF) is an emerging serious public health threat with a potential to transform into a public health emergency. Pakistan faced a heavy outbreak of Dengue fever (DF) from August to December 2019.

Biomonitoring of Toxic Metals in Feathers of Birds from North-Eastern Pakistan.

The current study was designed to determine the concentrations of toxic metals (Ni, Pb and Cr) in feathers of birds collected from four regions of NE Pakistan. Feather samples of birds (House Crow, Common Myna and House Sparrow) were collected from different areas. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used to determine the concentration of metals in feathers.

A cell-based drug delivery platform for treating central nervous system inflammation.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising candidates for the development of cell-based drug delivery systems for autoimmune inflammatory diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we investigated the effect of Ro-31-8425, an ATP-competitive kinase inhibitor, on the therapeutic properties of MSCs. Upon a simple pretreatment procedure, MSCs spontaneously took up and then gradually released significant amounts of Ro-31-8425.

Discovery of N-substituted 7-azaindoles as PIM1 kinase inhibitors - Part I.

Novel N-substituted azaindoles have been discovered as PIM1 inhibitors. X-ray structures have played a significant role in orienting the chemistry effort in the initial phase of hit confirmation. Disclosure of an unconventional binding mode for 1 and 2, as demonstrated by X-ray crystallography, is presented and was an important factor in selecting and advancing a lead series.

Discovery of N-substituted 7-azaindoles as Pan-PIM kinase inhibitors - Lead series identification - Part II.

N-Substituted azaindoles have been discovered as pan-PIM kinase inhibitors. Initial SAR, early ADME and PK/PD data of a series of compounds is described and led to the identification of promising pan-PIM inhibitors which validated our interest in the 7-azaindole scaffold and led us to pursue the identification of a clinical candidate.

Evaluation of cancer dependence and druggability of PRP4 kinase using cellular, biochemical, and structural approaches.

PRP4 kinase is known for its roles in regulating pre-mRNA splicing and beyond. Therefore, a wider spectrum of PRP4 kinase substrates could be expected. The role of PRP4 kinase in cancer is also yet to be fully elucidated.

Effect of Azadirachta indica (neem), sodium thiosulphate and calcium chloride on changes in nitrogen transformations and inhibition of nitrification in soil incubated under laboratory conditions.

A laboratory experiment was conducted to examine the effects of nitrification inhibitors (NIs) neem seed-cake (Azadirachta indica) (NSC), sodium thiosulphate (Na₂S₂O₃) and calcium chloride (CaCl₂) on changes in NH₄(+)⁻N, inhibition of nitrification and recovery of applied nitrogen (N) in soil. Surface soil samples of 0-15 cm were collected from an arable field, amended with urea N (UN) at the rate 200 mg N kg⁻¹, UN+NSC, UN+Na₂S₂O₃ and UN+CaCl₂ and incubated at 22°C periodically over 50 d. Soil without any amendment was used as check (control).

A stereodivergent, two-directional synthesis of stereoisomeric C-linked disaccharide mimetics.

Dipyranones, such as 1,2-bis[(2R,3S,6S)-3-hydroxy-6-methoxy-3-oxo-6H-pyran-2-yl]ethane, were exploited as templates for the synthesis of some novel C-linked disaccharide analogues. Efficient methods, such as stereoselective reduction and dihydroxylation, were developed for two-directional functionalisation of these templates. Peracetylated derivatives of ten stereoisomeric disaccharide analogues [acetic acid 4,5-diacetoxy-6-methoxy-[(3',4',5'-triacetoxy-6'-methoxytetrahydropyran- 2'-yl)ethyl]tetrahydropyran-3-yl esters] were synthesised from a virtual library of 136 compounds; furthermore, an additional eight stereoisomers could have been synthesised simply by using the enantiomeric ligand in the enantioselective step.