Musharaf Ahmad

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University, Peshawar | AUP · Department of Plant Pathology

The present study compares the in vitro effects of nanoparticles loaded pentamidine drug and conventional pentamidine on Leishmania tropica. Herein, pentamidine-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (PTN-CNPs) have been synthesized through an ionic gelation method with sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP). Next, the physical characteristics of PTN-CNPs were deter...

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province-Pakistan, bacterial spot caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria (Xcv) has decimated commercial tomato production. Field surveys were conducted in 2017 and 2018 to analyse the effects of the bacterial spot in tomato producing areas of KP, including Swat, Lower Dir, and Mansehra. During the growing season...

Salinity significantly impacts the growth, development, and reproductive biology of various crops such as vegetables. The cultivable area is reduced due to the accumulation of salts and chemicals currently in use and is not amenable to a large extent to avoid such abiotic stress factors. The addition of microbes enriches the soil without any advers...

Vanname shrimp is an important economic commodity that has carapace waste which is rich in the pigment astaxanthin. This study aims to determine (1) the chemical composition (proximate) of vanname shrimp carapace flour (2) the astaxanthin content of vanname shrimp carapace flour with different extraction times (3) Randemen of astaxanthin extract of...

Aqueous extracts and green manures of different parts of Adhatoda vasica, a wild medicinal shrub plant, were tested in vitro and in vivo for the control of bacterial wilt (BW) in tomato. Higher concentration (14%, w/v) of aqueous extracts of leaf, succlent shoot and stem were more effective than the lower concentrations and inhibited the in vitro g...

Bacterial wilt (BW) disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum species complex is a devastating plant disease that inflicts heavy losses to the large number of economic host plants it infects. In this study, the potential of dried powder of the arid-land medicinal shrub Rhazya stricta to control BW of tomato was explored. Both, in vitro and in planta...

Many constraints affect productivity and quality of tomato, the most important being an array of fungal and bacterial diseases. Fusarium wilt is present in all growing areas of KP, infecting tomato at different growth stages from vegetative growth up to fruit harvesting. This work aimed at determining the sensitivity of different pathogenic populat...

Restricted applications of chemical nematicides has directed to the development of ecofriendly alternatives. Culture filtrates in different concentrations (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%) of the six isolates of Pochonia chlamydosporia were evaluated for their nematicidal activity. Significant variations were observed in the inhibitory activity of culture...

The potential of dried powders of leaves, stems and succulent shoots of Withania somnifera (L) Dunal (applied at different rates and at different application timings), was investigated for the control of bacterial wilt (BW) of tomato. In In vitro studies, 15% (w/v) dried powder of leaves produced the maximum (23 mm) zone of inhibition (ZI) followed...

Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) causes rhizomania disease of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. ssp. vulgaris) and is the most important sugar beet virus affecting both its quality and quantity (Peltier et al. 2008). In 2013–2014, the major sugar beet growing areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan were surveyed for rhizomania. Sugar bee...

Bacterial canker is becoming one of the serious pests in vegetables in Northwest Pakistan. We investigated primary sources of inoculum for bacterial canker of tomato (BCT) caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis (Cmm), in a set of 20 weeds commonly found in tomato fields of major tomato growing areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) prov...

The use of resistant varieties is an effective, economic and environment friendly management of plant diseases particularly those caused by viruses. This paper reports, evaluation of 21 different tomato genotypes to find out resistance sources against Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) and to study effect of the virus on yield contributing parameters. The...

The use of biopolymers is a sophisticated method of soil and wastewater treatment as a substitute for using chemicals, which is a public health concern. A number of mechanisms, such as polymer bridging, polymer adsorption, charge neutralization (including electrostatic patch effects), coagulation/flocculation, and adsorption have been suggested to...

Present study was conducted on crude methanolic extract of stem and root of Taverniera glabra. In Pakistan T. glabra is found in the region of Balochistan only. T. glabra has numerous therapeutic uses in traditional medicine and it is also used for the pain relief. Current study was carried out to evaluate acute toxicity, analgesic and CNS depressa...

Ethanol and acetone extracts of Verbena tenuisecta, Parthenium hysterophorus, Calotropis procera and Azadirachta indica were tested as inhibitors of the growth of Tribolium castaneum. V. tenuisecta (at 500 ppm) effectively controlled eggs laying of T. castaneum, i.e., the minimum mean number of eggs was 61.00, followed by the standard A. indica at...

Phytobiocides are a good alternative to chemicals in managing bacterial diseases including bacterial wilt of tomato caused by Ralstonia solanacearum. In the present research study, finely ground dried powders of seven widely available medicinal plants/weeds species viz., Peganum harmala (esfand or wild rue), Calotropis procera (sodom apple), Melia...

This study was conducted to find the effect of non-host weeds on the organic management of root knot nematodes i-e Meloidogyne javanica. Initially survey was conducted in twenty fields and weeds plants were checked for galls on their roots. Asphodelus tenuifolius with no galls on the roots was selected for its efficacy against root knot nematodes....

This study was conducted to find the incidence of root knot nematode (M. javanica) in winter weeds of tomato at the root knot infested areas of Dargai and Jabban in Malakand division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. For this purpose survey was conducted on 20 fields of each region and the fifteen weed plants were checked for galls caused...

In the present study spent composts of button, oyster mushrooms and their combinations were used both in aqueous and powdered forms for the management of bacterial wilt of tomato caused by Ralstonia solanacearum. In-vitro and in-vivo experiments were conducted. Spent composts significantly reduced bacterial wilt of tomato under screen house conditi...

In the present study ethanol and water extracts of 15 seaweeds, Dictyota dichotoma var. velutricata, Dictyota indica, Iyengaria stellata, Padina pavonia, Sargassum swartzii, Sargassum variegatum, Stoechospermum marginatum, Stokeyia indica, Jolyna laminarioides, Caulerpa taxifolia, Halimeda tuna, Ulva fasciata, Ulva lactuca, Solieria robusta, and Me...

Twenty-six bivoltine silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) genotypes were tested along with two check varieties (NB 4 D 2 and SH 6) for their performance in respect of 14 metric traits during spring (E 1) and summer (E 2) seasons. No genotype displayed significantly superior performance vis-à-vis check breeds in all the metric traits under study. However, seve...

Twenty-eight genotypes of bivoltine silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) were studied for genetic divergence using Mahalanobis D 2 statistic. Based on fifteen important metric traits, D 2 values were obtained and the genotypes were grouped into five clusters using Tocher's method. The clustering pattern indicated a mixed trend. The silkworm genotypes originat...

Effect of different Zinc doses was investigated against Erwinia carotovora ssp. atroseptica, the potato blackleg/soft rot causing organism, during 2009 and 2010. Out of 200 tested samples, 21 of them were proved to be Eca. However, these tentative Eca isolates showed some characteristics which were unexpected for Eca. We, therefore, decided to perf...

To isolate the causal organism of soft rot of vegetables, diseased samples of potato, tomato, carrot, chilies, and bell pepper, were analyzed in the lab, using nutrient agar (NA) and/or the enrichment host (Bell pepper) technique. Successful isolations were purified by sub-culturing, identified as Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora through bioche...

Influence of sowing time and nitrogen fertilization on Alternaria leaf blight and oil yield Abstract Two sesame cultivars (Sesamum indicum L.) were evaluated using various 3 different sowing dates (20 th June, 10 th and 30 th July) and four nitrogen levels (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg N ha -1) at the New Developmental Farm of The University of Agriculture...

Hepatitis C is highly prevalent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Pakistan. Combination therapies of Interferon or Pegylated Interferon in combination with ribavirin are currently being used as antiviral options. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the response rate of combination therapy among patients infected with HCV 3a in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa P...

This study was undertaken to determine genetic variations, using RAPDs, among Verticillium chlamydosporium isolates infecting Meloidogyne incognita, a major pest in the tomato growing areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Significant differences noted among the isolates from different locations and host plants. Maximum loci detected in...

Hepatitis C is highly prevalent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Pakistan. Combination therapies of Interferon or Pegylated Interferon in combination with ribavirin are currently being used as antiviral options. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the response rate of combination therapy among patients infected with HCV 3a in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa P...

An epitaxial structure comprising depletion mode In0.7Ga0.3As/In0.52Al0.48As/InP pHEMT has been simulated using SILVACO. The main objective of our work was to incorporate a highly strained pseudomorphic In0.7Ga0.3As channel layer and study the effects of variations of supply layer thicknesses, delta doping and gate length. The important DC paramete...

In this study, microsporogenesis and pollen morphology of Crataegus babakhanloui were studied. The flowers, in different developmental stages, were removed, fixed in Formalin -glacial acetic acid- alcohol (FAA), stored in 70% ethanol, embedded in paraffin and then sliced at 8-10 μm by rotary microtome. Staining was carried out by periodic Acid Schi...

Ferulic acid is a natural antioxidant and is found particularly in the cell walls of plants. Its esters have continued to receive great attention among researchers because of their wide range of therapeutic potentials. This realization has prompted us to synthesize rarely known long chain fatty acids derived esters of ferulic acid. Thus, our effort...

Kinetic investigations of the hydrolysis of the 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3-dioxolenium ion and 2-phenyl-2-methoxy-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3-dioxolane furnish rate constants for all three reaction stages of the ortho ester hydrolysis: (1) generation of the dioxolenium ion, (2) hydration of this ion to form hydrogen ortho ester, and (3) breakdown...

Lycofoline forms a monoacetyl or a diacetyl derivative, depending on the reaction conditions. Hydrogenation of lycofoline yields dihydrolycofoline. Sodium borohydride reduction of acrifoline under non-epimerizing conditions gives the known acrifolinol, but reduction in the presence of sodium hydroxide gives both acrifolinol and lycofoline. From the...

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

This article reviews Neutron and X-Ray Scattering in Advancing Materials Research: Proceedings of the International Conference on Neutron and X-Ray Scattering, 2009, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 29 June–1 July 2009 by A. Saat, H. Kassim, M. Jumali, J. Saleh, M. Othman, A. Irahim, F. Irdis, M. Ahmad , New York, 2009. 262 pp. (hardcover). Price: $147.00....

Oxidative Modification of Blood Serum Proteins due to free radical stress has been studies in 65 patients Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and Myocardial Infarction (MI). It has been shown that both DM and MI patients have increased level of Oxidatively Modified Human Serum Proteins (OMHSP) as compared to healthy persons. Diabetic patients had a significantl...

This study reports the results of a numerical investigation of three-dimensional turbulent buoyant recirculating flow within rooms with heated obstruction. The study involves the solution of partial differential equations for the conservation of mass, momentum, energy, concentration, turbulent energy and its dissipation rate. These equations were s...

Difficulties associated with measuring ionized calcium in clinical practice have led to the use of total calcium, with or without adjustment for albumin concentration, as an estimate of calcium metabolism. We examined the correlation between ionized and total/adjusted calcium over a 24-h period in patients with adult growth hormone deficiency (AGHD...

To reduce the fragility encountered in controller implementation, which is a measure of extent to describe small perturbations in controller parameters caused by rounding-off errors or component tolerances, and keep the system stability and performance, approaches of weighted eigenvalue sensitivity and stability radii comparison were used for compu...

Candidiasis and systemic mycosis due to opportunistic pathogens is frequently reported in Sindh, especially in rural areas. In search of local antifungal medicinal plants, methanol, petroleum ether and aqueous extracts of five native medicinal plants Trachyspermum ammi, Hyoscyamus niger, Carum roxburgianum, Linum usitatissimum and Centella asiática...

The phenomenon of cavitation was investigated in an Enac-Osada ultrasonic unit using a #15 Cavi-Endo file 25-mm long. The observed cavitation was incorporated in a subsequent study which investigated the effects of cavitaion on debridement. One group of 10 teeth was subjected to the cavitating file while a second group served as a control. Scanning...

A highly sensitive competitive ELISA was standardized to determine aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk and dairy samples randomly collected from Faisalabad city, using Riedel-de-Haen, Aflatoxin M1 ELISA Systems, (Art–No. 45169). Standards of 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 ng L AFM1 in sample/standard buffer were used in optimizing anti-AFM1 antibodies and peroxida...

Insect infestation and yield performance of mungbean in association with Akashmoni (Acacia auriculiformis), Jhau (Casuarina equisetifolia), Sissoo (Dalbergia sissoo), and in the open field condition were studied during January to May 2008 in the field laboratory of Agroforestry Department, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh. Twelv...

XRD have been used to study Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalysts prepared by solution impregnation method. Effect of metal loading and calcination and reduction temperatures were studied to observe active metal particles growth. On calcination, growth of tetragonal PdO was observed only at 400 and 500 °C. However, for hydrogen reduced catalysts, fine face centred...

Osteoclast resorptive activity, which is known to demonstrate circadian rhythmicity, is regulated by various endocrine hormones and cytokines. PTH suppresses osteoprotegerin (OPG), a regulator of osteoclast activity that has recently been shown to have a circadian rhythm in healthy controls. We studied the differences in the relationship between PT...

Seven species of Collembola were recorded from the Thar Desert in India for the first time. Their existence and establishment has been attributed to the change in land use pattern of Sriganganagar district due to the development of canal irrigation. Sampling was done at two distant localities, in which one has been under irrigated agricultural acti...

Growth pattern of the grapes cv. Perlette revealed that berry shows double sigmoid growth pattern and takes 69 days after fruit set (DAFS) to mature under agroclimatic conditions of Jammu. Girdling + 40 ppm GA3 proved most effective in increasing bunch size, bunch weight and yield while as quality of grapes in terms of TSS, acidity, TSS / acid rati...

Using hrpN of Erwinia amylovora as a radio-active probe, hrpN of Erwinia stewartii was located within its wts cluster. This gene was cloned and mutagenized with Tn 5 to get mutants MA1 and MA2. These hrpN mutants were verified by Southern blotting, Western blotting, sequencing and hypersensitive response to make sure that the Tn5 insertions were in...

The collinear hybridization of the portions of wts cluster of E. stewartii with the hrp cluster of E. amylovora suggested that the two clusters were related and that the wts and hrp genes had a common function in pathogenicity. So, we used hrpN _Ea as a probe and located a 1.8 kbp Hind III fragment within the wts cluster of E. stewartii ....

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Studies were conducted to develop and release new improved wheat (Triticum aestivum L) varieties that can yield better and resist the diseases. On the basis of performance under field conditions, a line, MLT'S' (Metaltail)= ORE F1 158/FDI/Kl/BB/3/Nac, was selected from the Bread Wheat Observation Nursery MRA (1985-86), received through the courtesy...

Satu kajian menilai tahap kepekatan bioaerosol di ruangan pejabat telah dijalankan dengan menggunakan teknik persampelan hentaman. Dua pemboleh ubah utama, iaitu kadar alir udara, dan masa persampelan yang optimum ditentukan terlebih dahulu. Kesesuaian pertumbuhan bioaerosol khususnya bakteria dan fungus, juga diuji dengan menggunakan empat jenis a...

In the present work, quality of twelve commercial gear oil brands has been assessed by evaluating the physical characteristics and phosphorus contents. Physical parameters (Flash point, Pour Point, Viscosity index and Kinematic viscosity) and phosphorus contents were determined by standard test methods recommended by the American Society for Testin...

The study of the saturation flow of three-legged signalized junctions in Delhi was discussed. The study took into account the width of the approach road, hourly approach traffic volume, and the ratio between number of vehicles and their equivalent PCUs. It was observed that the developed saturation flow model was not static and varied with the appr...

Important macro and microelements in different genotypes of chickpea and lentil were determined. Maximum concentrations (mg/100g) of Na, K, Ca, Mg, P, Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu were observed in chickpea genotypes C-727 (24.23), Pb-91 (1686.9), CM-98 (87.02), Pb-91 (228.29), Pb-91 (181.13), Paidar-91 (6.78), CM-89 (3.34), Paidar-91 (1.60) and CM-72 (1.29) a...

Treatment of the phosphino-N-benzoyl hydrazones PPh2CH2C(R)=NNHC(=O)Ph (R = But,I; R = Ph, II) with [MCl2(NCPh)2] (M = Pd or Pt) gave complexes of type [MCl{PPh2CH2C(But)=NN=C(Ph)O}] (M = Pd, 1; M = Pt, 2) containing two fused five-membered chelate rings. Metathesis with LiBr or NaI gave [MX{PPh2CH2C(But)=NN=C(Ph)O}] (X = Br or I; M = Pd or Pt). Th...

Grains of pulse varieties / elite lines (9 of lentil, 15 of mungbean, 7 of Chickpea, 2 of black gram (mash) and one of cowpea) were screened for resistance to pulse beetle, Callosobruchus analis (F.) under laboratory conditions (28 ± 2°C and 65 ± 5% RH). The results revealed that oviposition, adult progeny development and grain weight loss by the b...

Adult growth hormone deficiency (AGHD) is characterized by abnormalities in body composition and a poor perceived quality of life (QoL). Weight-based high-dose growth hormone replacement (GHR) results in improvements in body composition and QoL in AGHD. However, a high patient percentage reported side-effects on high-dose GHR resulting in a high ra...

Isothermal and non-isothermal melt crystallization kinetics of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) were investigated via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Isothermal melt crystallization kinetics were analyzed using the Avrami equation. An Avrami exponent close to three was obtained for iPP, which implies growth of three-dimensional spherulitic su...

INTRODUCTION Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are used widely in the treatment of hypertension. Guidelines for the management of hypertension issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Society of Hypertension class ACE inhibitors as suitable agents for first line treatment (1). Long-term use of ACE inhibitors...

Marine vertebrate faunas from the latest Cretaceous phosphates of the Palmyrides Chain of Syria are described for the first time. Recent fieldwork in the phosphatic deposits of the Palmyra area (mines of Charquieh and Khneifiss, outcrops of Bardeh, Soukkari and Soukhneh) have yielded a rich and diversified assemblage of marine vertebrates, includin...

General practitioner Derry, Northern Ireland, 1949-96 (b 1926; q Queen's University, Belfast 1948; FRCGP), died from melanoma on 25 April 1999. Peter retired most reluctantly at the age of 70, having embraced the challenges of general practice with enthusiasm and style. His response to the social deprivation of his native city was the subtext of hi...

The relative morphogenetic response of internodal segments of tomato hybrids viz., Bornia and Royesta was studied at varying concentration of BAP, Kn, NAA and IAA. NAA @ 3 μM/l proved to be better than IAA @ 3 μM/l in combination with different PGR regimes of both BAP (0, 3, 6, 9 μM/l) as well as Kn (0, 6, 12, 18 μM/l) exhibiting maximum callus for...

Shoots of orange jessamine (Murraya paniculata) a member of the Rutaceae family flowered in vitro on half-strength MT basal medium containing 5% sucrose. The highest percentage (95%) of flowering was obtained on medium supplemented with 0.1 mg l–1 N6-benzyladenine and pH 5.7. A “floral gradient” was detected among the stem internodes and root segme...

Phytosociology study was carried out over an area of 73780 ha rangelands in southern Attock. The objective of this study was to delineate the existing vegetation into dominant plant communities so as to monitor and maintain the health of these rangelands over time based on floral, edaphic and climatic requirements. Four ecological units were identi...

1195 cases of various type of haemangioma were treated with various steroid modalities. The response to intralesional steroids was excellent in strawberry and mixed haemangiomas. The response to oral steroids was also good in these two types. The response of cavernous variety was poor with either modality used alone but with combined modality, a mo...

Ammoniation appears to be one of the most extensively studied and applied chemical methods. The present study was aimed at determining optimum time period required at pilot plant scale to detoxify aflatoxins in cottonseed meal by ammoniation under steam pressure and elevated temperature. The detoxification was achieved upto 97% with one percent amm...

A large number (1,273) of samples of mustard and rapeseed were collected from 116 locations belonging to 38 districts of Pakistan. Eighty nine known varieties were collected from different agricultural research institutes and studied for fungal infections. The dominant genus isolated from freshly harvested crop was Alternaria with 55% frequency of...

To evaluate the relative importance of fungal species, the known varieties of mustard/rapeseed collected from various research institutes located throughout Pakistan, were investigated. Alternaria species were the predominant fungi isolated from the samples of freshly harvested crops. The toxin producing potential of various strains of Alternaria a...

Abstract Objective: To review our experience with thyroglossal cysts outlining the clinical features as well as aspects of histology and management. Design: A retrospective study. Setting: Qatif Central Hospital. Division of Pediatric Surgery. Department of Surgery and Department of Pathology. Subjects: The subjects were 49 patients: 29 females and...

A new interconnection topology, the Interconnected Mesh Power System (IMPS), which leverages the production technologies of fine line lithography and batch via generation to allow planar power and ground distribution, as well as dense signal interconnection, on only two metal layers, is presented. A test vehicle characterizing both the signal trans...

We design angle units using Lager tools both by a conventional CORDIC algorithm and a fast algorithm called Constant-Factor Redundant CORDIC (CFR-CORDIC) and show that the CFR-CORDIC occupies more than twice the area of a conventional CORDIC but offers good speed-up. We discuss VLSI design issues using Lager such as system partitioning and grouping...

Seven groups of thirty patients undergoing cataract extraction under local anesthesia were each given different combinations of local anesthesia. These varied from a maximum approach using supra-orbital, infra-orbital and facial blocks with Hyalase, orbital compression and pre-operative Acetazolamide down to a minimum group receiving purely an infr...

This paper summarizes the results of load tests on two full-size stub-girders. The first, specimen M-1, had a conventional girder-to-column connection and the second, specimen M-2, featured a modified connection in which an extended end stub was connected to the column support. The modified end details offer some economic advantages, greater conven...

Study of the extraction of W(VI) ions using supported liquid membrane has been carried out. The carrier used for this metal ion transport, is tri-n-octylamine (TOA) dissolved in xylene. The liquid was supported in microporous polypropylene film. The parameters studied are effect of carrier concentration in the membrane, acid concentrations in the f...

Mortality from asthma is increasing, raising questions about the goals and adequacy of treatment. It is important to understand the pathophysiology of asthma and the rationale and options for treatment. Asthma, a reversible syndrome of airflow obstruction, is not simply spasm of airway smooth muscle; rather, it is a disease characterized by mucosal...