2022

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Perceptions about covid-19 disease and vaccination against it among adults in lahore
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) Rana Muhammad Qasim Jamil
The best option available against Covid-19 disease is vaccination, however many people are skeptical about its effectiveness and risks associated with it. This appears to be more prevalent among the people in developing countries such as Pakistan. Factors such as educational level, age, gender, house-hold income and marital status could be influencing the views of people about Covid-19 disease and vaccination against it. The main aim of this study was to find out the perceptions of people in Lahore about Covid-19 disease and vaccination against it. In a cross-sectional design, a questionnaire comprising of 40 items was administered among working class people in Johar Town and its adjoining areas in Western Lahore with informed consent. Keeping in view of similar studies, a sample size of 420 was considered adequate. Data were entered in the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and analyzed by using various statistical tests including logistic regression. There were twice as many males compared to females in this survey (68% vs. 32%). Eighty percent of the respondents got vaccinated against Covid-19 disease. Protection against the disease was the main reason to get vaccination. The odds of vaccination against Covid-19 was 3.14 times more among assistants compared to workers adjusted for age, gender, conveyance, place of living, income, education and smoking (AOR=3.4;95% CI; 1.49-6.64). The odds of vaccination against Covid-19 is 1.88 times more among participants owning their home compared to participants living in rental places after adjustment with covariates (AOR=1.88;95% CI; 1.01-3.49). Similarly, odds of having vaccinated were more than 7 times and nearly 6 times among those with high school education and college level education compared to illiterate subjects after adjustment with covariates (AOR=7.55, 95% of CI; 2.26-25.21 and AOR=5.97;95% of CI; 1.87-19.11, respectively)
Burden of nutritional anemia in the population of lahore
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) HAKEEM JAN
Anemia is the most common blood disorder affecting 17% of the human population, in addition, iron deficiency is the fifth major frequent disorder worldwide making it the world’s largest nutritional deficiency. Besides iron, cobalamin and folate deficiency are other common causes of nutritional anemia. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of anemia in the population of Lahore between the ages of 18-55 years alongside the deficiency of iron, cobalamin and folate. Total 406 participants were included in this study consisting 141 males and 265 females and among these females, 105 were pregnant while the remaining 160 were non-pregnant. In this study, 20.6% males and 52.5 % females found anemic including 44.4% non-pregnant females and 64.7% pregnant females with hemoglobin levels below normal range. Furthermore, Iron found as the leading deficiency in females (52.8%) while folate is the prime deficiency in males (17.7%). However, iron deficiency is the significant cause of nutritional anemia in both males (68.9%) and females (72.7%). Besides iron deficiency, folate levels also found significantly deficient in pregnant females (55.2%). Thus, nutritional anemia remains in the severe category of public health significance especially in pregnant females. Rapid and substantial decisions needed to be taken regarding, improvement of nutritional quality alongside supplements intake in deficient individuals, which might help to decrease the load of nutritional anemia.
Impact of physical activity on low density lipoprotein level in prehypertensive population.
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) RIMSHA RUBAB
Non-communicable diseases, which are the main cause of death and disability worldwide, are one of the biggest health and development concerns currently facing worldwide. Over 73% of all fatalities each year are caused by (NCDs). These are chronic ailments that include, cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, and disorders of the nervous system and mental health. The leading peril factors for cardiovascular disease are hypertension and dyslipidemia .Numerous known risk factors for cardiovascular disease respond favorably to regular aerobic exercise. This study mainly focusses to find the impact of lifestyle intervention on low density lipoprotein cholesterol level in pre-hypertensive individuals and also observe the relationship between LDL level with BMI range. A total of 140 individuals were examined among them 80 participants were found to be pre-hypertensive between the age group from 25-40 years. After surveying IPAQ questionnaire and measuring BP and BMI range, Only 16% participants were highly physically active , 37% were moderately active while the rest of 47% participants were inactive. About 72% (n=65) and 6% (n=4) of pre-hypertensive individuals had BMI range of overweight and obese, respectively. There is a symbolic association among LDL, BMI, BP and physical activity. It was observed that high LDL-cholesterol level in blood is directly linked with high BMI and physical inactivity. High BMI was seen to have positive feedback over blood pressure (p>0.005). The mean LDL level value was 101.56 mg/dL (S.D 26.470) The conclusion was drawn from this study that high physical inactivity has a positive impact over the chances of getting hypertensive from pre-hypertension. Physical activity helps to strengthen muscles, to keep the BMI in normal range and improves cognitive health.
Remediation of textile effluent by bacterial augmented floating treatment wetlands
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) Hina Ibraheem
Pure and clean water is our basic necessity. But due to human activities water resources are being continuously polluted. Major reason of water pollution are agricultural, industrial and municipal waste. As they contain different kind of dyes, heavy metals, inhibitory salts, dissolved solid and hydrocarbons, harmful to aquatic flora and fauna. Floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) has been used to remediate the contaminated water. In this study, floating buoyant mats, vegetated with specific plants with the roots hanging in water to perfume the remediation were used. Microbes such as bacteria colonize in the root and shoot and helps in the removal of pollutants. The main objective of this investigation was to check the effect of bacterial inoculation in FTWs in the remediation of textile effluent. In current research, FTWs carrying Typha domingensis (outhern cattail or cumbungi) was inoculated with bacterial consortium of two bacterial strains SZ-1 and SZ-6 and evaluated for their potential to remediate the textile effluent. Floating treatment wetlands vegetated with T. domingensis enhances the remediation and sedimentation of the pollutants. Bacterial inoculation further enhanced the efficiency. Maximum rate of remediation and sedimentation was determined by the combined use of T. domingensis and bacterial consortium after 30 days. As BOD, COD and TDS decreased by 91, 94 and 96%, respectively. pH slightly increased and altered from basic to neutral. The inoculated bacteria showed more persistence in water than the shoot and roots. The existing pollutants such as dyes, inhibitory salts, organic & inorganic compounds in textile wastewater inhibited the plant growth. The bacterial inoculation reduced the toxicity of these pollutants and improved the plant growth as root length by (38%), shoot by (2.5%) and biomass production by (7.4%). We concluded that combined use of bacteria and plants in FTWs is the best approach for sedimentation and remediating water contaminated with textile effluents.
Evaluation of tomato hybrids for the antioxidant potential and parental confirmation using molecular markers
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) Tabinda Saleem
The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a fresh and processed fruit in the world. Tomato can be ranged as the 2nd most cultivated and consumed fruit round the globe. These foods are rich in dietary fiber, carbs, amino acids, minerals, and vitamins. Iron, phosphorus, vitamin B, and vitamin C are all abundant in tomatoes. Regular consumption of tomato can decrease the risk of different chronic and heart related diseases because of antioxidants like lycopene, carotenoids and vitamin C. Molecular confirmations of the hybrids were carried out in study to confirm true hybrids. DNA was extracted from the young seedlings using CTAB method. Different DNA based markers systems like RAPD, SSRs, URP and SCAR were used to detect polymorphism in the F1 hybrids. To collect the data software was used that was statistic8.1. In which the different five varieties were used these were NBH 228, NBH 151, NBH 152, NBH 196, NBH 204 for all these varieties total quantities of the total phenolic content, reducing sugar, non-reducing sugar, chlorophyll content, carotenoids content and total sugar was checked that which variety have the much more significant while comparing them with each other. PCR was performed to get different bands which shows that either our varieties are true to hybrid or not. In the findings the five different bands were obtained for all the varieties. If these are true hybrids, then they must have the male bands if male band is not present that’s mean it is self-pollinated but not the true hybrid. If male band is shown in all varieties that show that all varieties are true to hybrid. This result shows that all these varieties are true to hybrid. Biochemistry was performed is correlate with this gel that show these are true hybrids that’s why they are different from their parents
Prevalence and risk factors association with type ii diabetes in lahore city of pakistan
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) WASEEM SAJJAD
Type-II diabetes is the most common type of diabetes, which has affected more than 465 million people worldwide, and it has been reported to be ninth leading cause of mortality. This study aims to determine risk factors associated type-II diabetes such as BMI, supplement intake, work type, family history, atypical features along with co-morbidities associated with this disease. The data was collected from Lahore city of Pakistan. The survey was performed for investigating the prevalence of type II diabetes and associated risk factors combined with it. 264 patients were interviewed through questionnaire who were suffering from type-II diabetes. A questionnaire was designed to record patients’ responses. Questionnaire contained: participant’s characteristics, lifestyle and comorbidities associated with the disease. It was found that there is significant difference in factors such as BMI, Atypical features associated with diabetes, Co-morbidities and Work type among various age groups and across gender while on the other hand supplement intake and family history in the studied population shows non-significant differences.
The study of thyroid and fertility profile in fertile age females of punjab, pakistan
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) RUKHSAR MUNIR
Infertility is a part of the world based on intense medical, psychological and social burdens. Infecundity are elucidate incapacity by envisage succeeding annual methodical association besides prophylactic. 12-14% of the estimated prevalence of infertility is based on economic, psychological implications, and, critical medical conditions involved in proper evaluation disorders as multidimensional diagnostic approaches. About 18-20% of the couples of reproductive age are infertile. Infertility conduct to negative repercussion in nearby matrimonial principally conception of her self-image spouse faith in oneself. Fertility potential is affected by hypothyroidism and hyperprolactinemia hormonal disorders, disrupting the hypothalamus pituitary-ovarian axis and, prolactin. The basic Amis of our study to analyzing correlation at different age and, Punjab regions. Total 1000 study participants were collected from the Hospitals, Ihsan Mumtaz Hospital Lahore, Pakistan and, Umar Shoaib Surgical Hospital Lahore, Pakistan from 1-7-2020 to 20-12-2021. Both fertility and thyroidal laboratory test performed by kit. Out of 1000 study participants, total 621 study participants were included for this research. The whole data divided into four groups on the basis of age and different Punjab regions. The result showing P values for one way ANOVA are set as 0.05 to define a significant relationship of values between FSH, and LH. Follicular-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone are more closely correlate with each.
Computational interaction analysis of phytochemicals against low density lipoprotein receptor
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) ZARYAB MEHMOOD
Failure of functional mutations in encoding the gene, LDLR causes familial hypercholesterolemia , one of the most common human inborn metabolic abnormalities. During the investigation for the molecular origin of FH, Brown with Goldstein discovered the (LDL) receptor in 1973. Diagnosis of FH is done by utilizing either genetic tests involving a raised concentration of LDL-C level in addition to the familial history of it or phenotypic tests using thesame criteria. The 3 dimensional structure oprotein was searched from PDB database. Library of phytochemicals were docked against the target protein LDLR. For drug target identification, Top phytochemicals were selectedbased on highest docking score and Root mean square deviation (RMSD) value. Inhibitors and protein docking interaction was checked using ligX tool of MOE. ADMET profiling was done for Absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity of inhibitors. The study provides novel insights into the etiology of hypercholesterolemia (FH) and improves our understanding in pathophysiology of this disease. These results help to understand the gene expression effect on hypercholesterolemia. The proposed study will help todevelop better drug candidates with more therapeutic efficacy and least side effects.
Insilico analysis of non-synonymous human keratin gene
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) Attiqa Hassan
Keratin, which makes up the majority of feathers, hairs, hooves, horns, and fiber, belongs to a class of biological substances with a high cysteine composition (7–13%) when contrasted to certain other protein molecules. In our study the in silico analysis of non-synonymous SNPs of human keratin gene is discussed. Mainly keratin gene krt81variants are studied by using different bioinformatics tools. The KRT81 gene in human’s codes for the protein known as keratin, type II cuticular Hb1.Monilethrix and Hair Disease are two conditions connected to KRT81. An autosomal dominant hair condition called monilethrix can result in scarring alopecia, nail abnormalities, and keratosis pilaris of the arms and neck. Functional, structural and model analysis of krt81 is done in this research. Sift, Polyphene2, Panther, Provean, I mutant, Revel, Mutant assessor, String, Ramachandran plot, and docking was used for different purposes. All the results of these tools shows that the variant of krt81 are diseased, deleterious or damaging. For the protein- protein interactions docking was done that shows the protein DSG4 has more binding affinity than other proteins. According to this study, SNPs are major possibilities for generating disorders linked to krt81 gene dysfunction.
Synthesis and characterization of cds quantum dots coated with methotrexate for targeted drug delivery
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) Amber Mubeen
Cancer is the second major cause of healthcare problems leading to high mortality rate. Methotrexate (MTX), derivative of folic acid, is an effective anticancer drug to treat different malignancies, but the major drawback is nonspecific targeting which ultimately result in cytotoxicity to healthy cells, need of high amount of doses. Nanocomposites of MTX to QDs may solve it by increasing the cellular uptake through folate receptors. In present study we synthesized MTX-conjugated cysteine capped CdS QDs (MTX- QD Nanocomposites) and estimated their cytotoxicity on MCF-7 cells with CdS QDs resistancy to MTX. The CdS QDs were prepared by using chemical wet method under high temperature and pressure and then these QDs were conjugated with MTX by gluteraldehyde method in which 5% of gluteraldehyde was used to provide functional group to bind MTX with CdS QDs. The characterization of CdS QDs and their conjugation with cysteine, folic acid, and MTX were performed through light microscope, UV-Visible spectrophotometry and FT-IR spectroscopy. The yellow-greenish fluorescence observed under microscope confirmed the formation of CdS QDs. Increase in absorbance at 540 nm indicates the conjugation of MTX with CdS QDs by using UV-Visible spectrophotometry. FT-IR spectroscopy shows C=O, C=C C-N bonds present in folic acid and presence of O-H, N-H & C-H bonds in MTX. The anticancer activity was checked by performing MTT Assay and immunohistochemistry on MCF-7 cells. The MTX-CdS QD nanocomposites efficiently bind to the MCF-7 cells and induced higher apoptosis rate and cytotoxicity in MCF-7 cells by enhancing cellular uptake of MTX-CdS QD nanocomposites by the cancerous cells through folate receptor as a drug targeting markers on MCF-7 cells. It increase the localization of high amount of MTX in the nuclei of MCF-7 cells. These results suggest that the conjugation of anticancer drug with QDs not only decreases the cytotoxic effect of drug on healthy cell by only target the specific receptors present on the surface of cancer cells , but also improves efficiency of cancer therapy by decreasing the quantity of drug dose and increasing the drug availability to cancer cells
Impaired senses and mental health consequences in long covid-19 patients.
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) Fatima Babar
Background: Loss or distortion of smell and taste has appeared as potential diagnosissymptoms. A considerable percentage of patients around the globe are suffering fromlong-COVID-19 symptoms. Loss of smell and taste are associated with mental health disorder in COVID-19 patients. In this study, we aim to determine the prevalence of los of smell and taste and their effect on mental health in COVID-19 patients using DASS-21 tool. Methodology: A 6-months long research survey was organized since May to November, 2021 in COVID-19 patients. Depression anxiety stress scale (DASS-21) has been used for the assessment of mental health disorder in COVID-19 patients. Total 647 individuals (either reported with COVID-19 test or had symptoms) participated in this study. Results: Majority of the respondents were from Lahore and of age between 23-31years. As per survey results, 72.6% cases showed long term anosmia , 73.4% cases showed long term ageusia and 69.2% cases showed Parosmia. The level of mental health disorder (i.e. depression, anxiety and stress) was significantly higher in patients with senses dysfunction as compared to asymptomatic patients. The level of mental health disorder among patients suffering from long term parosmia was significantly higher in participants than that of anosmia and ageusia. 91.8% patients had quarantined themselves at homes and resulted in misuse of antibiotics due to easy access of antibiotics. Herbal remedies and smell trainings resulted in regain of the senses in COVID-19 patients.Conclusion: In conclusion, anosmia, ageusia and parosmia are prominent diagnostic symptoms of COVID-19 infection leading to stress, depression and anxiety in COVID-1 patients. People should be aware about its serious hazards. Clinically, it is needed to pay attention on the importance of analysis of chemosensory function in the patients of depression.
Knowledge, attitude, practices and perception regarding genetically modified food in the population of district lahore, pakistan
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) Ayesha Siddique
Genetically modified (GM) food is playing an increasingly important role in the global food supply chain but is still a controversial topic with consumers. This study aims to better understand consumer knowledge. Attitude, perception, and practices of GM foods in Pakistan. As there are poor KAPs studies (Knowledge, attitude, perception, and practice studies) in Pakistan, the main objectives of the present study were to determine the KAPs regarding GMOs food, Calculate the KAPs score and observe the correlation between KAPs regarding GMOs food in a selected study area in Lahore Pakistan. A community based random cross-sectional study was adopted to process the study a total of 1000 participant the data was collected from District Lahore. The questionnaire consisted of KAPs towards GMOs food in district Lahore. The relationship between all variables was checked by t-Test: (Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances and score by single ANOVA test) the score value was significant if p<0.05. The present study finds out that knowledge and perception have significant value regarding age, practices and attitude have no significant value regarding age, knowledge have significant value regarding economic status. Attitude, perception and practices has no significant score value regarding economic status. Attitude have no significant value regarding gender, knowledge, practices and perception have significant value regarding gender. The perception has significant value regarding religion, town, marital status and Language, knowledge, attitude and practices have no significant value regarding religion, town, marital status and Language. Knowledge has no significant value regarding education, practices, perception, and attitude have significant value regarding education. Knowledge and perception have significant regarding occupation, Attitude, and practices have no significant value regarding occupation. The correlation between perception and knowledge only shows a moderate association between these two variables. The results showed that there was little KAPS that there should be a need for proper awareness about GMOs food. The understanding from the current study could be used to improve the delivery of an efficient education message relevant to GMOs food about KAPs in Lahore
Correlation between vitamin d level and blood pressure: a cross-sectional study from pakistan
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) Shehrish Kamran
Hypertension (HTN) or high blood pressure, is one of the world's most chronic diseases. The association between vitamin D supplementation and blood pressure has been investigated in the past, but the underlying mechanism in the general population remains unclear. Therefore, the current study aims to address these knowledge gaps. Current study is designed to investigate the prevalence of vitamin D levels in different regions, ages, and genders among the Pakistani population. In addition, this study also evaluates the association of vitamin D levels with hypertension among people. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 750 people from both provinces were included. The semi-automated chemistry analyzer was used to determine biochemical parameters such as triglyceride and cholesterol. Whereas vitamin D was quantified using the specialized chemical analyzer VIDAS ®. Current study enrolled a total of 772 people (mean ± SD: 50.50 ± 17.41) from the two provinces of Pakistan. Among 772 peoples, the maximum age group 41-50 years (18.8%; n=145) followed by 61-70 years (17.6%; n=136). In the Punjab province, a total of (42%; n=217) people were found with the normal vitamin D level (31-100 ng/dl). In addition, (31%; n=160) peoples were found with insufficiency of vitamin D level (21-30 ng/dl) while, (29%; n= 150) found deficient vitamin D level (≤20 ng/dl). However, the number of potential toxicity was found among (3%; n=16) people. Simultaneously, In KPK, a total of (29%; n=74) of people were found with the normal level of vitamin D (31100 ng/dl). In contrast, a total of (38%; n=97) were observed as the insufficient level of vitamin D (21-30 ng/dl), followed by (29%; n=74) of people who were reported to have a deficient level of vitamin D (≤20 ng/dl). However, (4%; n=10) people were reported with a vitamin D level in the potential toxicity level (≥100 ng/dl). Furthermore, in the first group i.e.., deficient (≤20 ng/ml), the regression analysis further showed the significant correlations with both systolic and diastolic blood Pressure p < 0.05, with the odd ratio of 1.107 (95% CI = 1.008-1.227) for systolic hypertension, while the odd ratio 1.099 (95% CI= 0.976-1.123) for diastolic hypertension. The relation between hypertension (both systolic and diastolic blood pressure) and vitamin D levels revealed a significant difference. Since Pakistan is a subtropical country, it was previously thought that vitamin D insufficiency and its adverse effects are unknown. However, it was shown that vitamin D insufficiency was quite prevalent in persons with hypertension in Pakistan, underscoring the importance of early vitamin D treatment. However, randomized-control studies with long-term interventions and large sample sizes with low vitamin D levels are needed to validate these findings.
Synthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates (phas) utilizing molasses as carbon source by proteus mirabilis
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) Fatima Nadeem
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are produced by many bacteria & can be used as an alternative for the traditional petrochemical based plastics. The biodegradability & biocompatibility are the properties drawing attention towards use of PHA as bioplastics in the recent years. The aim of this study was to produce PHA by the novel bacterial strain isolated from the oil contaminated soil samples, the inexpensive carbon sources used were glucose & molasses. The bacteria were isolated, confirmed for positive PHA accumulation by Nile blue staining & Sudan Black B staining. The novel positive PHA producer Proteus mirabilis was emphasized in this study to check the growth pattern after 30 hours cultivation giving the maximum yield of 13.02% (using glucose as a carbon source) & 25.49% (using molasses as a carbon source) at optimum conditions pH 7.0 and a temperature of 35-37°C. The structure & functional groups of PHA granules extracted from Proteus mirabilis were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Hence, Proteus mirabilis is the bacterial strain identified that can be used for the production of PHA giving lower to moderate quantities of PHA in this study.
Impact of physical activity on triglyceride level in prehypertensive population.
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) USBA GULZAR
A non-communicable disease (NCD) is a long-lasting, noninfectious health problem that does not result from an acute infectious process. Globally NCDs are responsible for 41 million deaths (71%) each year. Hypertension and hypercholesterolemia are major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Pre- hypertensive individuals are more likely to acquire hypertension. Physical activity is a natural antidote to NCDs. This study aims to explore the influence of physical activityon the TG levels in prehypertensive individuals. A total of 80 prehypertensive participants were found and enrolled in this study from 140 volunteers between the age of 25-40 years, after evaluation of IPAQ, observing BMI and BP. Only 20% participants were physically active, 25% and 1% participants were moderate and inactive respectively. The conclusion drawn from this study that high physical activity has a positive impact over the chances of getting hypertension from prehypertension; BMI was shown to have a significant positive connection with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p0.005), and with TG level. In all age groups, high physical activity shows normal blood pressure, TG, and BMI. Being physically active can help to manage the weight and also improve your ability to do daily activities.
Isolation and characterization of mercury resistant bacteria and their effect on plant growth promotion in combination with metal hyper-accumulator fern
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) Saba Asif
The spread of toxic heavy metals (Hg, As, Pb, Cr) has reached unprecedentedlevels as a result of the global industrial revolution. Bioremediation, an environment friendly technique, exhibits power to remove or transform the non-essential heavy metal such as Hg. The main focus of the research was the isolation of Hg-resistant bacteria and exploration of their bioremediation abilities. Bacteria were isolated from industrial wastewater and the isolates conferring high resistance towards Hg (up to 18mM) were characterized for optimum growing conditions. The isolates also showed resistance towards other metals as well. The isolates were found capable of reducing HgCl2 solution and applicable for promoting plant growth in the presence of Hg. The selected isolates H3 and H7 were able to reduce 94% and 88% HgCl2 and the latter expressed the Hg volatilization ability as well. Hg reduction by bacteriaduring their growth curve was also analyzed and it was found that higher Hg reduction was observed during log phase of the bacterial growth. The isolates also expressed bioremediation potential by showing an increase in root andshoot length of the plant (Vigna radiata) in Hg amended and non-amended soils, both in presence and absence of metal hyper-accumulator fern Pteris vittata. Through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, isolate H3 showed homology to Stenotrophomonas indicatrix while the isolate H7 showed homology to Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. Such bacterial isolates exhibiting multiple traits of reducing Hg at higher levels, resistance to multiple metals and plant growth support in Hg-contaminated soil makes them potential candidates for bioremediation
In silico characterization of hypothetical proteins of treponema pallidium
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) Tayyba Awais
Treponema pallidium is a gram-negative bacteria with corkscrew-shaped and its optimal narrow ranges of pH is 7.2 to 7.4. It expands in moist regions of the body. It is a small, motile organism that is not visualized by light microscopy. German zoologist Fritz Schaudinn and dermatologist Erich Hoffman observed this bacteria in diseased tissues. It was first recorded in Europe. Globally, 7 million new cases of syphilis were estimated in 2020. Till, 2030 to reduce the incidence of syphilis by 90%, WHO has set targets but the global response has been slow. In this study, 44 hypothetical proteins of T. pallidium have been targeted for functional and structural annotation. To check the template accessibility the selected proteins were first subjected to homology screening. After filtering 25 hypothetical proteins were evaluated further for conserved domain analysis through CDD, Pfam, InterProscan, and Scanprosite, physiochemical characterization via ExPASy ProtParam, subcellular localization via CELLO v2.5, and PSORTb v 3.0, and structural modeling via I-TESSER and SAVES server (v.5.0). The pathogenicity assessment using VirulentPred and functional annotation through CATH v4.3 and Argot v2.5 shown that 21 out of 25 hypothetical proteins could act as potential virulent factors. The finding of this study could assist in confirming the functions and pathogenic involvement of these proteins and may help target in identification for drug discovery and vaccine designing for T. pallidium in near future.
In silico Comparative Analysis of Microbial Communities of Water and Soil Samples Contaminated with Arsenic
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) AQSA AKRAM
Arsenic is a ubiquitous element that occurs in many minerals. From both the ecological and individual health standpoints arsenic is found to be toxic and carcinogenic. The most prominent forms of arsenic are arsenate (As-V) and arsenite (As-III) compounds. Many microbes have the ability to resist and detoxify arsenic. The microbial communities cannot be studied thoroughly by culture dependent methods as most microbes cannot be cultured in laboratories. Metagenomics approach gives us comprehensively picture of the microbial communities present at a site. The goal of this study was to check the bacterial groups that are present in arsenic polluted water and soil samples. For this purpose, metagenomics data from arsenic samples was retrieved from NCBI SRA database. The sequences were analyzed through Mothur software, which was accessed via the Galaxy web server. SILVA reference database was used to classify the sequences. Venn diagram, rarefaction curve, phylogenetic tree, heatmap, diversity indices, relative abundance chart and Krona pie chart were generated. Fluctuating percentage of different bacterial groups were found in different metagenomes. Proteobacteria, Burkholderiales, Myxococcales, Anaerolineales, Rhizobiales, Rhodocyclaies, Psedomonadales, Xanthomonadales, Methylococcales, Acidobacteria, Actinomycetales, Anaerolineales, Desulfuromondales and Bacillias bacteria were found both in soil and water samples. Nitrospirales bacteria was present in only soil samples. Burkholderiales bacteria was present in all most all samples but was more abundant in the water samples. The bacteria was present in all the arsenic contaminated samples might have some role to play in arsenic detoxification. On the other hand many bacterial groups were different in many samples; some were more abundant in water samples while others were more abundant in soil samples. The difference of the microbial communities in water and soil samples was also proven statistically significant through AMOVA test. Those bacteria which only present in some particular samples and absent in other samples showed that these bacteria have specific roles in the relevant environments. These bacteria can be targeted and studied further for possible applications of bioremediation in arsenic contaminated water and soils.
Diagnostic value of mentzer index for thalassemia prediction in suspected patients of punjab
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) QURAT.UL.AIN ASGHAR
Thalassemia is a genetic disease and became a worldwide problem. Worldwide, about 3-8% of population are suffered from beta thalassemia. About 60 countries in which 150 million population are found with carrier of beta thalassemia. The carrier rate of beta thalassemia major in Pakistan is 5.3% This disease is very common in South Asia, Middle East, Africa, India, Pakistan Bangladesh and China. About 100,000 of the newborns are suffering from this disease in every year. The aim of this study was to use Mentzer index for predicting the beta thalassemia patients in the population of Punjab. This was a retrospective study conducted between 2021 September to 2022 June. In the current study, about n=1000 patients were selected to screen out for beta thalassemia in which n=607 were positive while the remaining were negative for the disease. Their sample were analyzed by using ABACUS 380 hematology analyzer for CBCs and hemoglobinopathies analysis and HPLC (high pressure liquid chromatography) for Hb analysis. Out of n=607 patients, 47 have beta thalassemia major in which 22 were male and 25 females respectively. In this study thalassemia positive females were 5.06% (n=350/605) and males were 34.93% (n=257/395). The highest percentage of beta thalassemia was (65.9%) in 16-30 years age group (P=<0.001).N=345 patients were positive for beta thalassemia minor in which 130 were male and 215 were female respectively. About n=179 patients were positive for beta thalassemia intermedia in which 89 were male and 90 were female patients. Thalassemia major was characterized by low level of Hb, HbA2 values between 3.5 to 9%, MCV between 50<70 fl and MCH >12<20 pg. But for beta thalassemia intermedia, the Hb were between 7 and 10 g/dl, MCV from 50-80fl and MCH between 16-24 pg. Thalassemia minor was characterized by slight low level of Hb, HbA2 values between 11.5-15.3%, RBCs between 4.8-5.3 million cells per microliter, MCV between 70<79 fl, MCH <27 pg and MCHC <30 g/dl respectively. Hemoglobinopathies such as Hb, HbA1, HbF and HbA were found significant (P=0.00) in both male and female patients This study recommends many diagnostic facilities, prevention centers to speed up the awareness camp and communicate with the family for screenings in regions of Punjab. Mentzer index could be used to predict the diagnosis of beta thalassemia
Comparative metagenomic analysis of methanogens in different methane producing environments
(UMT, Lhr, 2022) Lubna Razzaq
In recent years, the economical and eco-friendly renewable resources particularly biorefining and bioenergy production systems have received considerable attention to produce fossil fuel alternative energy sources. These energy production systems represent more sustainable pathways. Bioenergy is considered a renewable energy, produced normally from biological processes. One approach and possibility of bioenergy production from wastes is biomethane production; a refine form of biogas by anaerobic digestion. There is several methane producing ecosystems present on earth in which methane producing microorganisms, called methanogens, are found in = various proportions. In this study, 16S rRNA metagenomic data of numerous methanogenic environment samples was retrieved from NCBI SRA database. Mothur software was used for this investigation via Galaxy server. Wetland, hydrothermal vents and methane marine seeps were the major samples used for this study. Marine water site was used as a negative control. The selected data was uploaded in Mothur Galaxy server and was analyzed using different tools. Summary of sequences was analyzed after every step of coting formation, screening, unique sequences selection, alignment and filtering. In rarefaction curve it was observed that the number of sequences between 10,000 and 20,000 mostly had OTUs numbers about 10000. The maximum OTUs reached about 30,000 - 35,000 number of sequences. The heatmap showed the similarities between similar environments methaneseepsediments and marinewater samples in red colour as compared to black spots in the heatmap. Venn diagram is another workflow showed almost four samples overlapping OTUs. In case of marinemethaneseep3, marinewater1, hydrothermalpoolvents1 and methaneseepsedimaent9091 the total richness in all samples were observed 2083 in which two groups marinemethaneseep3 and marinewater1 shared the maximum 28 species. Phylogenetic tree observation depicted similarities between wetland samples and methaneseepsediments samples. The tree also grouped marinewater samples with marinemethaneseep samples followed by grouping with hydrothermalventspool samples. In krona pie chart, 92% sequences were found to belong to bacteria and only 4% archeal sequences were present. In bacterial domain 44% were proteobacteria. Within the proteobacteria group, most sequences were clustered into the gammaproteobacteria group. In archaeal domain 72% were Euryarchaeota. Within the Euryarchaeota group, most sequences were clustered into the methanosaeta group of methanogens. Upon visualizing the relative abundance of microbes using Phinch tool, the most abundant sequences in hydrothermalventssamples belonged to gammaproteobacteria, the most abundant sequences in marinemethaneseep samples belonged to proteobacteria and bacteroidates, the most abundant sequences in marinewater samples belonged to bacteroides and flavobacteria, the most abundant sequences in methaneseepsediments samples belonged to gammaproteobacteria and deltaproteobacteria, the most abundant sequences in wetland samples belonged to proteobacteria. The p-value of Amova and Homova statistically analysis was <0.01 showed the significant difference among the groups. The study shows that proteobacteria, gammaproteobacteria, and Euryarchaeota are found in all these sites, and thus may a have role to play in methanogenic environments.

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