Abstract Microbial proteases are one of the most demanding enzymes for various industries with diverse applications in food, pharmaceutics, and textile industries to name the few. An extracellular alkaline metalloprotease was produced and purified from moderate halophilic bacterial strain, Bacillus cereus TS2, with some unique characteristics required for various industrial applications. The protease was produced in basal medium supplemented with casein and was partially purified by ion exchange chromatography followed by ammonium sulphate precipitation. The alkaline metalloprotease has molecular weight of 35 kDa with specific activity of 535.4 µM/min/mg. It can work at wide range of pH from 3 to 12, while showing optimum activity at pH 10. Similarly, the alkaline metalloprotease is stable till the temperature of 80 °C and works at wide range of temperature from 20 to 90 °C with optimum activity at 60 °C. The turnover rate increases in the presence of NaCl and Co+2 with k cat/KM of 1.42 × 103 and 1.27 × 103 s-1.M-1 respectively, while without NaCl and Co+2 it has a value of 7.58× 102. The alkaline metalloprotease was relatively resistant to thermal and solvent mediated denaturation. Applications revealed that the metalloprotease was efficient to remove hair from goat skin, remove blood stains and degrade milk, thus can be a potential candidate for leather, detergent, and food industry.

Abstract Fenugreek leaves contains bioactive compounds, which are helpful in maintaining human health. These compounds are adversely affected in conventional drying methods. Therefore, this study was carried out to retain maximum amount of these components through microwave-assisted drying and extraction technique. The technique was optimized for simultaneous drying and extraction process for fenugreek leaves. The drying rate and drying time were influenced by the level of microwave power; time was reduced from 21 to 5 minutes, when microwave power was changed from 30 to 100 W. Unlikely, the drying rate increased from 1.79 to 4.56 ± 0.05 g/(100 g.min) with the change in power (30 to 100 W). Moreover, moisture ratio analysis determined that two term model was the best to demonstrate the fitness with experimental values. The energy consumption was lowest for 100W compared to other powers. Furthermore, comparison between microwave-based extraction and methanol-extraction indicated that the antioxidant activity was better preserved compared to conventional ones even at higher microwave power levels.

Abstract An investigation was carried out to extract polyphenols from mango and kinnow mandarin peels for the development of functional fruit bars and their storage stability. Solvent ethanol at 50%, 80% and 100% concentration was employed for polyphenols extraction from mango and kinnow peels through ultrasound assisted extraction technique. Higher polyphenols were extracted from mango peels with comparatively more antioxidant activity than kinnow peels. Fruit bars fortified with different levels of mango and kinnow peel polyphenolic extracts subjected to ambient and refrigerated storage conditions revealed a gradual decline in total polyphenols, antioxidant activity and sensory attributes score during storage period. Microbiological parameters though increased during storage but remained well within the permissible limits. Ambient temperature storage fruit bars were discarded after three months whereas at refrigeration temperature conditions remained sensory acceptable for five months. Overall, 2% mango peel extract fortified fruit bars scored highest by the sensory panelists while 3% kinnow peel extract fortified fruit bars scored lowest. It was concluded that mango and kinnow peel extract could be utilized as ingredient for the preparation of functionl foods.

Abstract Quality is paramount and needs to be maintained throughout the shelf life of pharmaceuticals. The current study aimed to evaluate the quality, potency, and drug-drug interaction in an in vivo animal model by using two drugs, namely, metoprolol and glimepiride. Tablets were selected for their physical characteristics, such as shape, size, and color. Quality control tests, such as weight variation, hardness, friability, and disintegration tests, and invitro drug release studies were performed as per USP. Drug-drug interaction and in vivo studies were carried out according to the standard protocol of the animal ethics committee. Quality control tests of both the tablets were within the specified range. The cumulative release percentages of the drugs were 81.12% and 85.36% for Metoprolol Tartrate and Glimepiride, respectively, in a physiological buffer solution within 1 h. The combination of metoprolol and Glimepiride also significantly decreased the blood glucose level in diabetic animals. However, the blood glucose level increased in the group receiving metoprolol only, but the difference was not significant. The result suggested that the formulations are safe. However, the chronic use of this combination requires frequent monitoring of blood glucose level to improve its efficacy and for the patient’s safety.

Abstract To evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility patterns in URTIs reporting to tertiary hospitals of Lahore. A cross-sectional study employing 259 culture sensitivity reports obtained from tertiary care hospitals of Lahore. Using SPSS, descriptive statistics were used to estimate frequencies and percentages. In URTIs, S. aureus (5%) was the frequent gram-positive isolate followed by MRSA (1.5%) and MSSA (1.5%), while P. aeruginosa (15.8%) was the prevalent gram-negative isolate followed by Klebsiella (13.1%) and E. coli (6.9%). Against P. aeruginosa, ceftazidime (7.7%), cefuroxime/ceftriaxone (4.6%), amoxicillin (4.3%) and ciprofloxacin (4.2%), were tested resistant, while imipenem (11.2%), ciprofloxacin (9.2%), amikacin (9.2%), meropenem/ levofloxacin/gentamicin (8.1%) and piptaz (6.9%) were found sensitive. Against Klebsiella, carbepenems (7.3%), amikacin (6.5%), ciprofloxacin (5.4%) and gentamicin (5%) were tested sensitive, whereas, ceftazidime (8.5%), ceftriaxone (5.8%), cefaclor (5.5%), ampicillin (4.6%), co-amoxiclave (4.2%) and ciftazidime/ciprofloxacin (3.8%) were found resistant. Overall, imipenem (35%), meropenem (30.8%) and amikacin (31.9%) were the three most sensitive antibiotics, while ceftazidime (25.4%), ceftriaxone (19.2%) and ampicillin (18.5%) were the three most resistant antibiotics. Data suggested that P.aeruginosa and Klebsiella, were the most frequent bacterial isolates in URTIs of Lahore. These isolates were resistant to ampicillin, cefuroxime and ceftazidime, but were sensitive to carbapenem and aminoglycosides.

Abstract A cohort study of 90 days was designed to explore the hypercholesterolemic associated blood pressure with intake of extruded flaxseed powder (EFSP) fortified yogurts. The hypercholesterolemic subjects were distributed into two groups (1 and 2), then blood samples and blood pressure were taken. Descriptive statistics were used for comparison between groups. A significant increase in serum total cholesterol (TC) (6.330.48 to 6.510.04 mmol/dL) and low-density lipids-cholesterol (LDL-C) (5.170.28 to 5.370.47 mmol/dL) was observed in participants consuming plain milk yogurts for 30 days. A significant decrease in TC (6.470.95 to 6.28 ± 0.84) and LDL-C (5.350.29 to 5.130.44 mmol/dL) was observed in the group consuming EFSP fortified sheep milk yogurt. Similarly, a significant decrease in serum TC (6.381.01 to 6.200.98 mmol/dL), and LDL-C (5.301.16 to 4.980.99 mmol/dL) was noticed in the group consuming EFSP fortified cow milk yogurt. The intake of fortified yogurts reduced significantly serum cholesterol associated with blood pressure in both groups.

Abstract The emergence of antibiotic resistance in microorganisms is a serious challenge globally. Natural hydrophobic diterpene carboxylic acids present in rosin have unsatisfactory inhibitory properties against pathogens due to their poor water solubility. Therefore, the objective of research work was to modify the natural rosin into rosin maleic anhydride adduct with improved bioinhibitory properties for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Prescreened MRSA isolates were found 78.05% and 29.27% resistant to oxacillin and vancomycin antibiotics respectively. The dosage effect of 0, 25, 50, and 100 mg L-1 rosin maleic anhydride adduct revealed the best inhibition response at 25 mg L-1. Moreover, bacteriostatic as well as the inhibitory effect of rosin maleic anhydride adduct was noticed against MRSA isolates. Gompertz model predicted better uptake of maleic anhydride adduct as compared to rosin. The higher specific growth rate of MRSA at reduced lag time correlated with increased toxicity of maleic anhydride adduct. This research concludes rosin maleic anhydride adduct has superior inhibitory properties against MRSA strains.

Phosphodiesterases (PDE) are group of enzymes which catalyze the hydrolysis of cAMP and cGMP. Since these cyclic phosphate moieties worked as intracellular second messengers in numerous physiological processes, their inhibition can affect normal physiology of living system. NSAIDs are among the frequently prescribed medications, because of their efficacy as analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory agents. They are known to block cyclooxygenase pathway. In limited data NSAIDs has been shown anti-tumor potential, and phosphodiesterase inhibition has assumed to be one of the mechanism. To date no further evaluation being done. Further, NSAIDs are classified as cyclooxygenase inhibitors and phosphodiesterase inhibition can imprint its side effects. This study first time investigates the effects of NSAIDs on phosphodiesterase 1 inhibition. The activity against snake venom phosphodiesterase 1 was assayed on a microtitre plate reader spectrophotometer. Selective COX-2 inhibitor, celecoxib, exhibited a potent PDE1 inhibitory activity, at therapeutic doses, with an IC50 value of 29.4 µM. The findings of our study are indicative of new pharmacological actions of cyclooxygenase inhibitors. This article presents the PDE inhibitory properties as a new effects of already existing drugs. These additional effects could be potentially helpful for researchers to assess other physiological and pathological states.

Abstract The bacterial species employ various types of molecular communication systems recognized as quorum sensing for the synchronization of differential gene expression to regulate virulence traits and biofilm formation. A variety of quorum sensing inhibitors; molecules that interfere with quorum sensing among bacteria have been examined which can block the action of autoinducers. Moreover, the studies have scrutinized various enzymes for their quorum quenching activity resulting in the degradation of signaling molecules or blocking of gene expression. So far, the studies have found that these approaches are not only capable to reduce the pathogenicity and biofilm formation but also resulted in increased bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics and bacteriophages. The effectiveness of these strategies has been validated in different animal models and it seems that these practices will be transformed in near future to develop the medical devices including catheters, implants, and dressings for the prevention of bacterial infections. Although many of these approaches are still in the research stage, the increasing library of quorum quenching molecules and enzymes will open innovative perspectives for the development of antibacterial approaches which will extend the therapeutic arsenal against the pathogenic bacterial species.

Abstract The present study was planned to test the hypothesis that feeding lactating dairy cattle with varying levels of rumen-undegradable protein (RUP) can enhance protein utilization, milk production, milk protein, and nitrogen (N) excretion. Forty mid-lactating crossbred (Jersey × Friesian) cattle were randomly divided into four groups. Four treatment diets were formulated to contain 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60% RUP of crude protein. Dry matter (DM) and crude protein intakes were significantly reduced with increasing dietary RUP levels. Crude protein digestibility increased linearly with incremental increases in dietary RUP levels. Cattle fed 60% RUP showed a linear decrease in N intake compared to that in the other groups. A linear decrease in urinary N and linear increases in net N, milk N, and N-use efficiency were observed with increasing dietary RUP levels. Actual milk, energy-corrected milk, and 4% fat-corrected milk yields (kg/day) increased linearly with an increasing degradability of protein. However, milk protein, solids not fat and total solids, as well as the yields of protein, fat, and lactose, showed significant increases with increased RUP supplementation. Collectively, the results indicate that formulating dairy cow diets to contain 60% RUP results in better lactating performance and N-use efficiency and lower N excretion.

ABSTRACT Salinity is a serious problem that limits crop growth and yield. The present study used plotting to evaluate 25 tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) accessions for various morpho-physiological parameters at the seedling stage and identify significantly salt-tolerant tomato lines at three different salinity levels. The pot experiment had a completely randomized design with three replicates in a factorial arrangement under greenhouse conditions. Tomato plants were exposed to 0 (control), 8, and 12 dS m-1 as NaCl stress at the seedling stage. The morpho-physiological traits, such as root and shoot length, root/shoot ratio, number of leaves, fresh and dry shoot weight, fresh and dry root weight, leaf area, Na+ and K+ concentrations, K+/Na+ ratio, and tolerance index, were recorded to examine salt tolerance. According to principal component analysis (PCA), there were six principal components (PCs) with Eigen values > 1 and 77.2% of total cumulative variability. The PC1 (24.3%) revealed the highest variability followed by PC2 (16.2%). Meanwhile, the PCA biplot and cluster heat map analyses indicated that Subarctic, Raad-Red, Naqeeb, Pakit, Tommy-Toe, and BL-1076 were salt-tolerant, whereas PBLA-1401, PB-017902, CLN-2413, BL-1078, BL-1174, and BL-1079 were the most susceptible accessions based on their performance under stress.

Abstract: The present investigation is concerned with the synthesis of acid azo dye based on 1-Amino-2-naphthol-6-nitronaphthalene-4-sulphonic acid and its chromium, iron, cobalt, nickel and copper complexces. The structure of these complexes were analyzed by UV-Visible, FTIR, NMR and elemental analysis. The synthesized dyes were applied on leather to assess its fastness properties. The thermal stability have been analyzed by thermal gravimetric analysis where the dyes were stable up to 250 ̊C. The antifungal activities of the azo ligands and its metal chelates were studied against Candida albicans.

Abstract Composite structures are extensively used in various fields ranging from, but not limited to marine, aerospace, automotive, agricultural and industrial equipment due to their unique and excellent properties like weight associated with density. On an increase in their applications, it also requires special attention to manufacture and process the composites to acquire the high level of stability. Most critical defect in composite structures that have attracted many researchers is delamination. Delamination in composite structures are inevitable during service period. Present work is focused on investigating the effect of presence of delamination in the carbon fiber reinforced composite plate using finite element solver software, ANSYS. Present analysis will focus to find the effect of delamination size, boundary constraints and layups on the natural frequency of carbon fiber composite plate. Analytical results were also analyzed using MATLAB environment. Governing equations were derived using Rayleigh-Ritz method. The natural frequency reduced on an increase in delamination size and it is high in clamped-clamped boundary conditions rather than simply supported constraints. The finite element results are then compared with analytical results for clamped-clamped boundary conditions and found in close agreement.

The study was performed to estimate the association of hypertension and dyslipidaemia with increasing body weight and obesity in Type II diabetics of Lahore, Pakistan. An observational study was conducted by enrolling 2708 obese diabetics from four diabetes care centres of Lahore, Pakistan. Data was collected for a period of 7 months. Associations were estimated using chi-square, binary and multinomial logistic regression. Data suggested that blood pressure, systolic and diastolic, exhibited continual increase with increasing body weight and obesity class in diabetes patients with 41.8% increase in the prevalence of hypertension in obesity class III subjects (OR; 1.91, p=0.02). Likewise, triglycerides and total cholesterol exhibited continual increase in their mean values with increasing obesity, i-e., an overall increase in the prevalence of dyslipidaemia of 27.2% in obesity class 3 subjects (OR; 1.94, p=0.29). Taken together, this data suggested that hypertension is potentially associated with increasing obesity in diabetics, while dyslipidaemia demonstrated plausible association only with obesity class 3.

Abstract: Buildings consume one-third of final energy consumption in the world and are graded as the largest sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Buildings energy consumption is driven by numerous factors that have direct or indirect effects on it. Identification of such factors could help building designers and architectures in introducing energy efficient designs of various types of buildings. Such studies are indispensable for countries such as Pakistan where a very limited research has been published in this area. This study attempts to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the effect of numerous factors on the residential electricity consumption and further, aims to establish an electricity usage intensity (EUI) value for the residential sector of Pakistan. Data were collected from 523 dwellings through site surveys and interviews with residents. Effect of 48 different variables, (five socioeconomic variables, 14 dwelling variables, 22 variables from electric appliances details, five demographic variables and two variables from renewable energy sources) was investigated on the residential buildings annual electricity consumption using SPSS software. It was found that 17 out of 48 variables have significant linear relationship with annual electricity consumption. Further, through a multivariate analysis, it was found that annual electricity usage intensity (EUI) for Pakistan’s residential buildings is 24kWh/m2. Finally, this EUI value is compared with the same of two major South Asian countries. It is observed that mean EUI of Pakistan is almost similar to that of India, i.e. 24kWh/m2 whereas Bangladesh has a higher value of mean EUI, i.e. 32kWh/m2.

Resumen: Los edificios consumen un tercio del consumo final de energía en el mundo y están clasificados como las mayores fuentes de emisiones de dióxido de carbono (CO2). El consumo de energía en los edificios se debe a numerosos factores que tienen efectos directos o indirectos. La identificación de tales factores podría ayudar a los diseñadores y arquitecturas de edificios a introducir diseños de eficiencia energética de varios tipos de edificios. Tales estudios son indispensables para países como Pakistán, donde se ha publicado una investigación muy limitada en esta área. Este estudio intenta llenar este vacío de conocimiento al investigar el efecto de numerosos factores en el consumo de electricidad residencial y, además, tiene como objetivo establecer un valor de intensidad de uso de electricidad (EUI) para el sector residencial de Pakistán. Se recolectaron datos de 523 viviendas a través de encuestas de sitio y entrevistas con residentes. El efecto de 48 variables diferentes (cinco variables socioeconómicas, 14 variables de vivienda, 22 variables de detalles de electrodomésticos, cinco variables demográficas y dos de fuentes de energía renovables) se investigó sobre el consumo anual de electricidad de los edificios residenciales utilizando el software SPSS. Se encontró que 17 de las 48 variables tienen una relación lineal significativacon el consumo anual de electricidad. Además, a través de un análisis multivariado, se encontró que la intensidad anual del uso de electricidad (EUI) para los edificios residenciales de Pakistán es de 24kWh / m2. Finalmente, este valor de EUI se compara con el mismo de dos de los principales países del sur de Asia. Se observa que la media de la EUI de Pakistán es casi similar a la de la India, es decir, 24kWh / m2, mientras que Bangladesh tiene un valor más alto de la media de la EUI, es decir, 32kWh / m2.