Context: The growth and production of enzymes by microorganisms depend highly on the compounds an... more Context: The growth and production of enzymes by microorganisms depend highly on the compounds and factors entering the system. Objectives: The present systematic review aimed to assess the optimized medium content to enhance alpha-amylase production from the microorganisms. Methods: The PubMed, Embase Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases were searched from inception to April 2022, restricted to the English language. The reference list of the included studies was cross-checked, and a partial gray literature search was undertaken. Alpha-amylase production from the microorganisms and optimized medium content by statistical design were the key evaluated outcomes. Results: Among 995 initially gathered litterateurs, 12 studies were included in this review, which involved bacteria (seven studies), yeasts (two studies), fungi (two studies), and protists (one study). The results indicated that the optimized medium composition by statistical design might increase alpha-amylas...
Journal of microbiology, biotechnology and food sciences, 2022
Laccases are useful for bioleaching and removal of phenolics and xenobiotics. They play an import... more Laccases are useful for bioleaching and removal of phenolics and xenobiotics. They play an important role in food, paper, pulp and textile industry. Laccases are very interesting biocatalysts for several industrial applications. The present research work was concerned with the production of an extracellular laccase from Penicillium spp. isolate IIB-11 on barley bran using solid state fermentation (SSF). The enzyme has various industrial applications such as in pulp and paper industry, textile industry, organic synthesis, bioremediation, food industry, pharmaceuticals and nano-biotechnology. Isolation of Penicillium was carried out from soil samples. The highest production (2.94 Ug-1) was observed by Penicillium spp. isolate IIB-11. Different parameters were undertaken for optimization conditions. The highest enzyme activity (36.29 Ug-1) from Penicillium spp. IIB-11 was observed using 50 g barley bran, 75 ml of HCl (0.1 N), pH 1.5, 30°C temperature, 44 h time of incubation and 4 % i...
The β-xylanase gene (DCE06_04615) with 1041 bp cloned from Thermotoga naphthophila was expressed ... more The β-xylanase gene (DCE06_04615) with 1041 bp cloned from Thermotoga naphthophila was expressed into E. coli BL21 DE3.
Raw hospital wastewater is a source of excessive heavy metals and pharmaceutical pollutants. In w... more Raw hospital wastewater is a source of excessive heavy metals and pharmaceutical pollutants. In water-stressed countries such as Pakistan, the practice of unsafe reuse by local farmers for crop irrigation is of major concern. In our previous work, we developed a low-cost bacterial consortium wastewater treatment method. Here, in a two-part study, we first aimed to find what physico-chemical parameters were the most important for differentiating consortium-treated and untreated wastewater for its safe reuse. This was achieved using a Kruskal–Wallis test on a suite of physico-chemical measurements to find those parameters which were differentially abundant between consortium-treated and untreated wastewater. The differentially abundant parameters were then input to a Random Forest classifier. The classifier showed that ‘turbidity’ was the most influential parameter for predicting biotreatment. In the second part of our study, we wanted to know if the consortium-treated wastewater was ...
International Journal of Advanced Research in Biological Sciences (IJARBS), 2021
Pakistan imports edible oil to meet the national demands posing burden on national exchequer. She... more Pakistan imports edible oil to meet the national demands posing burden on national exchequer. She is trying to grow edible oil crops to overcome this expense. Area under Sunflower cultivation is continuously increasing in Pakistan. But, insect pest infestation is a major concern for the growers. There is a need to develop hybrids which are less susceptible to the insect pests. Present study was conducted to find the most less susceptible Sunflower hybrids. Promising sunflower hybrids were grown and relevant data were recorded. All the hybrids were found moderately resistant to Resistant. This response is subject to the availability of insect population in the field and environment plays an integral role in it. There is dire need to explore the potential further of these hybrids. Keywords: Sunflower, Hybrid, Screening, Whitefly, Jassid, capitulum borer
International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology, 2017
Pancreatitis is a disease which is caused by inflammation of the pancreas. Pancreas is a large gl... more Pancreatitis is a disease which is caused by inflammation of the pancreas. Pancreas is a large gland that is damaged when digestive enzymes are become activated before releasing into small intestine and these digestive enzymes attack the pancreas. There are two main types of pancreatitis, one is acute pancreatitis and the other is chronic pancreatitis. The pain sometimes goes into the back. Fever may occur in acute pancreatitis and symptoms may appear in a few days. And weight loss, fatty stool, and diarrhea may occur in chronic pancreatitis. In severe cases of this disease, infection, bleeding, and permanent tissue damage may occur. A few infections like fungal, bacterial, parasitical, and viral can be major causes of pancreatitis. To diagnose the pancreatitis medical imaging like ultrasound and CT scan will be very useful. And acute pancreatitis diagnosis was generally based on the threefold increase in the blood of lipase and amylase. Antibiotics, intravenous fluids, pain medicat...
The study investigates the pragmatic knowledge; pragmatic competence level as well as speech act ... more The study investigates the pragmatic knowledge; pragmatic competence level as well as speech act strategies used by Pakistani EFL learners. It reveals that Master level English language learners are unable to produce and comprehend the intended meanings in the target language. As a result, pragmatic failure and misunderstanding occurred. Pragmatic comprehension and production is essential for effective communication especially for EFL learners in this modern age where people have to communicate cross-culturally as English is being used as lingua franca internationally. The study explores the problems faced by EFL learners in comprehending and producing the correct speech acts in English. The study used two data collection tools: a WDCT in which speech acts of refusal and apology are used to find out pragmatic competence level and difficulties faced by Pakistani EFL learners. A Likert Scale questionnaire is used to know about the views and suggestions of the Pakistani EFL learners ab...
Objective: To compare the effectiveness of neural mobilization and ultrasound therapy on pain sev... more Objective: To compare the effectiveness of neural mobilization and ultrasound therapy on pain severity in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 48 CTS patients at the Physiotherapy Department IPM&R, DUHS between 23rd January 2017 and 22nd July 2017. The CTS patients were randomly allocated into 2 equal groups by simple randomization method. Group 1 received neural mobilisation; Group 2 received ultrasound therapy with a predetermined intensity. A total of 12 sessions were given over a period of 4 weeks. Pre and post intervention data were collected from both groups on Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to measure pain. SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis. Comparisons between post test results of both groups were done by using paired sample t-test with a p-value < 0.05 considered as significant. Results: It was found that the 79% (19 cases) and 21% (5 cases) in Group 1 (Neural Mobilization), who prior to the treatment had faced mo...
Hospital wastewaters are produced in large volumes in Pakistan (∼362–745 L/bed.day) and are disch... more Hospital wastewaters are produced in large volumes in Pakistan (∼362–745 L/bed.day) and are discharged without proper treatment. They are widely used by farmers for crop irrigation and induce a phytotoxic effect on plant growth. The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of untreated and treated hospital wastewater on seed germination of a fodder crop Trifolium alexandrinum (Berseem clover) and a food crop Solanum lycopersicum (tomato). A bacterial consortium was formed with three bacterial strains, i.e., Alcaligenes faecalis and Bacillus paramycoides spp., which were individually proven efficient in previous studies. The concentrations of untreated and treated hospital wastewater (25, 50, 75 and 100%) were used to irrigate these crop seeds. To assess the efficiency of treatment, the germination percentage, delay index, germination index, stress tolerance indices, seedling vigour index and phytotoxicity index were calculated and were statistically proven significant. The seeds g...
Low back pain (LBP) is the foremost cause to hamper an individual's functional activities in ... more Low back pain (LBP) is the foremost cause to hamper an individual's functional activities in Pakistan. Its impact on the quality of life and work routine makes it a major reason for therapeutic consultations. About 90% of the cases with LBP are non-specific. Various options are available for the treatment of LBP. Posterior-anterior vertebral mobilization, a manual therapy technique; and thermotherapy are used in clinical practice, however evidence to gauge their relative efficacy is yet to be synthesised. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of posterior-anterior vertebral mobilization versus thermotherapy in the management of non-specific low back pain along with general stretching exercises. A randomised controlled trial with two-group pretest-posttest design was conducted at IPM&R, Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS). A total of 60 Non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) patients with ages from 18 to 35 years were inducted through non-probability and purposive sampli...
JPMA. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 2017
To determine the frequency of neck pain and its association with risk factors among software engi... more To determine the frequency of neck pain and its association with risk factors among software engineers. This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted at the Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, from February to March 2016, and comprised software engineers from 19 different locations. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select individuals spending at least 6 hours in front of computer screens every day and having a work experience of at least 6 months. Data were collected using a self-administrable questionnaire. SPSS 21 was used for data analysis. Of the 185 participants, 49(26.5%) had neck pain at the time of data-gathering, while 136(73.5%) reported no pain. However, 119(64.32%) participants had a previous history of neck pain. Other factors like smoking, physical inactivity, history of any muscular pain and neck pain, uncomfortable workstation, and work-related mental stress and insufficient sleep at night, were found to be significantly associ...
The present findings was aimed to determine the predator prey interaction on some wheat cultivars... more The present findings was aimed to determine the predator prey interaction on some wheat cultivars was laid out at Experimental Area of Entomology Section, Agriculture Research Institute, Tandojam during rabi wheat growing season of 2014. Five wheat varieties were sown in a complete randomized block design plot. The varieties are 1. NIA-Sunhari, 2. NIA-Amber, 3. NIA-Sundar, 4.Kiran 5.Kirman.The results indicated that maximum mean population of insect pest and predators were recorded on different varieties of wheat crop. The maximum mean Black aphid population was recorded on variety of NIA-Amber (3.36/leaf) and minimum on Kiran (2.79/leaf). The maximum mean numbers of green aphids were recorded on variety Kiran (5.26/leaf) and minimum mean population on variety NIA-Amber (3.59/leaf). The maximum American bollworm was recorded on variety of NIA-Sunhari, (0.51/leaf) and minimum population was recorded on variety NIA-Sundar (0.14/leaf). Its population was increase in the mid to end of s...
The present study was carried out to determine the searching ability of pupal parasitoid, Dirhinu... more The present study was carried out to determine the searching ability of pupal parasitoid, Dirhinus giffardii of Bactrocera zonata in the Bio Control Research Laboratory, | department of Entomology, SAU, Tandojam, at temperature 27 ± 1ºC and 60 ± 5% relative humidity. Adults of fruit fly were fed with water, sugar and needo milk powder, whereas, Dirhinus giffardii were fed with honey and water solution. Ten days old D. giffardies were used against 20 pupae of Bactrocera zonata in the experiment and data recorded on parasitized pupae and un-parasitized pupae after 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. The results in all treatments indicates that highest parasitized pupae were at peak level of (16.66) after 72 hours age of pupae on the depth of 0 cm in plant debris followed by 4 cm depth (16.33), whereas lowest parasitized pupae were recorded at 5cm depth (13.66) after 72 hours of age inside plant debris. Likewise, the highest un-parasitized pupae were at peak level of (14.00) after 24 hours of age...
A field study was carried out during 2013 at the experimental area of Entomology Section, Agricul... more A field study was carried out during 2013 at the experimental area of Entomology Section, Agriculture Research Institute, (ARI) Tando Jam to examine the effect of bio-pesticides against sucking insect pests of brinjal crop under field conditions. Five treatments with three replications were applied. The treatments were: T1=chemical control (confidor/Diamond), T2=Neem (Azadirachta indica), T3= Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), T4= Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globus), T5= Untreated (Control). Three insect pests were found infesting brinjal including white flies, jassid and mites. Pre treatment- and post-treatment observations were recorded. The results revealed that against white fly, the first spray of chemical control(confidor) showed highest reduction percent (96.62%) followed by Neem extract (82.60%), Tobacco extract (75.95%), Eucalyptus extract (73.93%) and lowest for untreated control (11.07%); while in the second spray also, chemical control(Diamond) showed highest effect against white f...
Context: The growth and production of enzymes by microorganisms depend highly on the compounds an... more Context: The growth and production of enzymes by microorganisms depend highly on the compounds and factors entering the system. Objectives: The present systematic review aimed to assess the optimized medium content to enhance alpha-amylase production from the microorganisms. Methods: The PubMed, Embase Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases were searched from inception to April 2022, restricted to the English language. The reference list of the included studies was cross-checked, and a partial gray literature search was undertaken. Alpha-amylase production from the microorganisms and optimized medium content by statistical design were the key evaluated outcomes. Results: Among 995 initially gathered litterateurs, 12 studies were included in this review, which involved bacteria (seven studies), yeasts (two studies), fungi (two studies), and protists (one study). The results indicated that the optimized medium composition by statistical design might increase alpha-amylas...
Journal of microbiology, biotechnology and food sciences, 2022
Laccases are useful for bioleaching and removal of phenolics and xenobiotics. They play an import... more Laccases are useful for bioleaching and removal of phenolics and xenobiotics. They play an important role in food, paper, pulp and textile industry. Laccases are very interesting biocatalysts for several industrial applications. The present research work was concerned with the production of an extracellular laccase from Penicillium spp. isolate IIB-11 on barley bran using solid state fermentation (SSF). The enzyme has various industrial applications such as in pulp and paper industry, textile industry, organic synthesis, bioremediation, food industry, pharmaceuticals and nano-biotechnology. Isolation of Penicillium was carried out from soil samples. The highest production (2.94 Ug-1) was observed by Penicillium spp. isolate IIB-11. Different parameters were undertaken for optimization conditions. The highest enzyme activity (36.29 Ug-1) from Penicillium spp. IIB-11 was observed using 50 g barley bran, 75 ml of HCl (0.1 N), pH 1.5, 30°C temperature, 44 h time of incubation and 4 % i...
The β-xylanase gene (DCE06_04615) with 1041 bp cloned from Thermotoga naphthophila was expressed ... more The β-xylanase gene (DCE06_04615) with 1041 bp cloned from Thermotoga naphthophila was expressed into E. coli BL21 DE3.
Raw hospital wastewater is a source of excessive heavy metals and pharmaceutical pollutants. In w... more Raw hospital wastewater is a source of excessive heavy metals and pharmaceutical pollutants. In water-stressed countries such as Pakistan, the practice of unsafe reuse by local farmers for crop irrigation is of major concern. In our previous work, we developed a low-cost bacterial consortium wastewater treatment method. Here, in a two-part study, we first aimed to find what physico-chemical parameters were the most important for differentiating consortium-treated and untreated wastewater for its safe reuse. This was achieved using a Kruskal–Wallis test on a suite of physico-chemical measurements to find those parameters which were differentially abundant between consortium-treated and untreated wastewater. The differentially abundant parameters were then input to a Random Forest classifier. The classifier showed that ‘turbidity’ was the most influential parameter for predicting biotreatment. In the second part of our study, we wanted to know if the consortium-treated wastewater was ...
International Journal of Advanced Research in Biological Sciences (IJARBS), 2021
Pakistan imports edible oil to meet the national demands posing burden on national exchequer. She... more Pakistan imports edible oil to meet the national demands posing burden on national exchequer. She is trying to grow edible oil crops to overcome this expense. Area under Sunflower cultivation is continuously increasing in Pakistan. But, insect pest infestation is a major concern for the growers. There is a need to develop hybrids which are less susceptible to the insect pests. Present study was conducted to find the most less susceptible Sunflower hybrids. Promising sunflower hybrids were grown and relevant data were recorded. All the hybrids were found moderately resistant to Resistant. This response is subject to the availability of insect population in the field and environment plays an integral role in it. There is dire need to explore the potential further of these hybrids. Keywords: Sunflower, Hybrid, Screening, Whitefly, Jassid, capitulum borer
International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology, 2017
Pancreatitis is a disease which is caused by inflammation of the pancreas. Pancreas is a large gl... more Pancreatitis is a disease which is caused by inflammation of the pancreas. Pancreas is a large gland that is damaged when digestive enzymes are become activated before releasing into small intestine and these digestive enzymes attack the pancreas. There are two main types of pancreatitis, one is acute pancreatitis and the other is chronic pancreatitis. The pain sometimes goes into the back. Fever may occur in acute pancreatitis and symptoms may appear in a few days. And weight loss, fatty stool, and diarrhea may occur in chronic pancreatitis. In severe cases of this disease, infection, bleeding, and permanent tissue damage may occur. A few infections like fungal, bacterial, parasitical, and viral can be major causes of pancreatitis. To diagnose the pancreatitis medical imaging like ultrasound and CT scan will be very useful. And acute pancreatitis diagnosis was generally based on the threefold increase in the blood of lipase and amylase. Antibiotics, intravenous fluids, pain medicat...
The study investigates the pragmatic knowledge; pragmatic competence level as well as speech act ... more The study investigates the pragmatic knowledge; pragmatic competence level as well as speech act strategies used by Pakistani EFL learners. It reveals that Master level English language learners are unable to produce and comprehend the intended meanings in the target language. As a result, pragmatic failure and misunderstanding occurred. Pragmatic comprehension and production is essential for effective communication especially for EFL learners in this modern age where people have to communicate cross-culturally as English is being used as lingua franca internationally. The study explores the problems faced by EFL learners in comprehending and producing the correct speech acts in English. The study used two data collection tools: a WDCT in which speech acts of refusal and apology are used to find out pragmatic competence level and difficulties faced by Pakistani EFL learners. A Likert Scale questionnaire is used to know about the views and suggestions of the Pakistani EFL learners ab...
Objective: To compare the effectiveness of neural mobilization and ultrasound therapy on pain sev... more Objective: To compare the effectiveness of neural mobilization and ultrasound therapy on pain severity in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 48 CTS patients at the Physiotherapy Department IPM&R, DUHS between 23rd January 2017 and 22nd July 2017. The CTS patients were randomly allocated into 2 equal groups by simple randomization method. Group 1 received neural mobilisation; Group 2 received ultrasound therapy with a predetermined intensity. A total of 12 sessions were given over a period of 4 weeks. Pre and post intervention data were collected from both groups on Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to measure pain. SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis. Comparisons between post test results of both groups were done by using paired sample t-test with a p-value < 0.05 considered as significant. Results: It was found that the 79% (19 cases) and 21% (5 cases) in Group 1 (Neural Mobilization), who prior to the treatment had faced mo...
Hospital wastewaters are produced in large volumes in Pakistan (∼362–745 L/bed.day) and are disch... more Hospital wastewaters are produced in large volumes in Pakistan (∼362–745 L/bed.day) and are discharged without proper treatment. They are widely used by farmers for crop irrigation and induce a phytotoxic effect on plant growth. The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of untreated and treated hospital wastewater on seed germination of a fodder crop Trifolium alexandrinum (Berseem clover) and a food crop Solanum lycopersicum (tomato). A bacterial consortium was formed with three bacterial strains, i.e., Alcaligenes faecalis and Bacillus paramycoides spp., which were individually proven efficient in previous studies. The concentrations of untreated and treated hospital wastewater (25, 50, 75 and 100%) were used to irrigate these crop seeds. To assess the efficiency of treatment, the germination percentage, delay index, germination index, stress tolerance indices, seedling vigour index and phytotoxicity index were calculated and were statistically proven significant. The seeds g...
Low back pain (LBP) is the foremost cause to hamper an individual's functional activities in ... more Low back pain (LBP) is the foremost cause to hamper an individual's functional activities in Pakistan. Its impact on the quality of life and work routine makes it a major reason for therapeutic consultations. About 90% of the cases with LBP are non-specific. Various options are available for the treatment of LBP. Posterior-anterior vertebral mobilization, a manual therapy technique; and thermotherapy are used in clinical practice, however evidence to gauge their relative efficacy is yet to be synthesised. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of posterior-anterior vertebral mobilization versus thermotherapy in the management of non-specific low back pain along with general stretching exercises. A randomised controlled trial with two-group pretest-posttest design was conducted at IPM&R, Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS). A total of 60 Non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) patients with ages from 18 to 35 years were inducted through non-probability and purposive sampli...
JPMA. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 2017
To determine the frequency of neck pain and its association with risk factors among software engi... more To determine the frequency of neck pain and its association with risk factors among software engineers. This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted at the Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, from February to March 2016, and comprised software engineers from 19 different locations. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select individuals spending at least 6 hours in front of computer screens every day and having a work experience of at least 6 months. Data were collected using a self-administrable questionnaire. SPSS 21 was used for data analysis. Of the 185 participants, 49(26.5%) had neck pain at the time of data-gathering, while 136(73.5%) reported no pain. However, 119(64.32%) participants had a previous history of neck pain. Other factors like smoking, physical inactivity, history of any muscular pain and neck pain, uncomfortable workstation, and work-related mental stress and insufficient sleep at night, were found to be significantly associ...
The present findings was aimed to determine the predator prey interaction on some wheat cultivars... more The present findings was aimed to determine the predator prey interaction on some wheat cultivars was laid out at Experimental Area of Entomology Section, Agriculture Research Institute, Tandojam during rabi wheat growing season of 2014. Five wheat varieties were sown in a complete randomized block design plot. The varieties are 1. NIA-Sunhari, 2. NIA-Amber, 3. NIA-Sundar, 4.Kiran 5.Kirman.The results indicated that maximum mean population of insect pest and predators were recorded on different varieties of wheat crop. The maximum mean Black aphid population was recorded on variety of NIA-Amber (3.36/leaf) and minimum on Kiran (2.79/leaf). The maximum mean numbers of green aphids were recorded on variety Kiran (5.26/leaf) and minimum mean population on variety NIA-Amber (3.59/leaf). The maximum American bollworm was recorded on variety of NIA-Sunhari, (0.51/leaf) and minimum population was recorded on variety NIA-Sundar (0.14/leaf). Its population was increase in the mid to end of s...
The present study was carried out to determine the searching ability of pupal parasitoid, Dirhinu... more The present study was carried out to determine the searching ability of pupal parasitoid, Dirhinus giffardii of Bactrocera zonata in the Bio Control Research Laboratory, | department of Entomology, SAU, Tandojam, at temperature 27 ± 1ºC and 60 ± 5% relative humidity. Adults of fruit fly were fed with water, sugar and needo milk powder, whereas, Dirhinus giffardii were fed with honey and water solution. Ten days old D. giffardies were used against 20 pupae of Bactrocera zonata in the experiment and data recorded on parasitized pupae and un-parasitized pupae after 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. The results in all treatments indicates that highest parasitized pupae were at peak level of (16.66) after 72 hours age of pupae on the depth of 0 cm in plant debris followed by 4 cm depth (16.33), whereas lowest parasitized pupae were recorded at 5cm depth (13.66) after 72 hours of age inside plant debris. Likewise, the highest un-parasitized pupae were at peak level of (14.00) after 24 hours of age...
A field study was carried out during 2013 at the experimental area of Entomology Section, Agricul... more A field study was carried out during 2013 at the experimental area of Entomology Section, Agriculture Research Institute, (ARI) Tando Jam to examine the effect of bio-pesticides against sucking insect pests of brinjal crop under field conditions. Five treatments with three replications were applied. The treatments were: T1=chemical control (confidor/Diamond), T2=Neem (Azadirachta indica), T3= Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), T4= Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globus), T5= Untreated (Control). Three insect pests were found infesting brinjal including white flies, jassid and mites. Pre treatment- and post-treatment observations were recorded. The results revealed that against white fly, the first spray of chemical control(confidor) showed highest reduction percent (96.62%) followed by Neem extract (82.60%), Tobacco extract (75.95%), Eucalyptus extract (73.93%) and lowest for untreated control (11.07%); while in the second spray also, chemical control(Diamond) showed highest effect against white f...
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