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  1. Mahmood H, Shakeel A, Abdullah A, Khan MI, Moniruzzaman M
    Polymers (Basel), 2021 Jul 29;13(15).
    PMID: 34372105 DOI: 10.3390/polym13152504
    The thermal kinetic modeling is crucial for development of sustainable processes where lignocellulosic fuels are a part of chemical system and their thermal degradation eventuates. In this paper, thermal decomposition of three lignocellulosic materials (bagasse, rice husk, and wheat straw) was obtained by the thermogravimetric (TG) technique and kinetics was analyzed by both model-fitting and isoconversional (model-free) methods to compare their effectiveness. Two models selected from each class include Arrhenius and Coats-Redfern (model-fitting), and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) (model-free). The formal model-fitting approach simulating the thermal decomposition of solids by assuming a fixed mechanism was found to be unduly facile. However, activation energy (E) values calculated from two model-fitting techniques were considerably different from each other with a percentage difference in the range of 1.36% to 7.65%. Particularly, both model-fitting methods predicted different reaction mechanism for thermal disintegration of lignocellulosic materials (two-dimensional diffusion (D2) by Arrhenius and one-dimensional diffusion (D1) by Coat-Redfern method). Conversely, the model-free routine offers a transformation of mechanism and activation energy values throughout reaction and is, therefore, more authentic to illustrate the complexity of thermal disintegration of lignocellulosic particles. Based on the model-free kinetic analysis, the lignocellulosic materials may be devised in following order of activation energy: rice husk > bagasse > wheat straw, by both KAS and FWO methods with a percentage difference no more than 0.84% for fractional conversion up to 0.7. Isoconversional approach could be recommended as more realistic and precise for modeling non-isothermal kinetics of lignocellulosic residues compared to model-fitting approach.
  2. Khan MI, Sufian S, Shamsuddin R, Farooq M, Saafie N
    PMID: 38955975 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-33573-7
    The removal of dyes from the aquatic ecosystem is necessary being a major threat to life. For enhanced remediation of methylene blue (MB) dye, a new ternary biopolymer-geopolymer-surfactant composite adsorbent is synthesized by combining phosphoric acid geopolymer (PAGP), calcium alginate (Alg), and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). During the synthesis of the composites, PAGP and SLS were mixed with the alginate matrix, producing porous hybrid beads. The PAGP-SLS-alginate (PSA) beads prepared were characterized using different analytical tools, i.e., scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FTIR), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), surface area and porosimetery (SAP), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). To ascertain the ideal conditions for the adsorption process, a batch reactor procedure was used to investigate the effects of several parameters on MB adsorption, including pH (2, 4, 6, 8, 10), PSA adsorbent dosage (0.06-0.12 g), MB concentration (50-500 mg/L), contact time (15 to 300 min), and temperature (25, 35, and 45 °C). The SEM investigation indicated that ~ 1860 μm-sized PSA beads with 6-8 μm voids are generated. Based on XRD, FTIR, and SAP examinations, the material is amorphous, having numerous functional groups and an average pore size of 6.42 nm. Variation of pH has a little effect on the adsorption process, and the pH of 7.44 was found to be the pHpzc of the PSA beads. According to the findings of the batch study, equilibrium adsorption was obtained in 270-300 min, showing that the adsorption process was moderately slow-moving and effective. The dye adsorption linearly increased with initial dye concentration over concentration range of 50-500 mg/L and reciprocally decreased with rise in temperature. 0.06 g adsorbent dose, 25 °C, pH10, and 270 min were found to be the better conditions for adsorption experiments. Langmuir isotherm fitted well compared to Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich (DR) isotherm models on the experimental data, and the maximum adsorption capacity(qmax) calculated was 1666.6 mg. g-1. Pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetics model and multi steps (two) intra particle diffusion (IPD) model fitted well on the adsorption kinetics data. The system's entropy, Gibbs free energy, and change in enthalpy were measured and found to be -109.171 J. mol-1. K-1, - 8.198 to - 6.014 kJ. mol-1, and - 40.747 kJ. mol-1. Thermodynamics study revealed that adsorption process is exothermic, energetically favorable and resulting in the decrease in randomness. Chemisorption is found to be the dominant mechanism as confirmed by pH effect, Langmuir isotherm, PSO kinetics, IPD model, and thermodynamics parameters. PSA beads were successfully regenerated using ethanol in a course of 120 min and re-used for five times. To sum up, the PSA adsorbent's impressive adsorption capability of 1666.66 mg/g highlights its potential as a successful solution for methylene blue removal. The results of this study add to the expanding corpus of information on sophisticated adsorption materials and demonstrate PSA's potential for real-world uses in wastewater treatment and environmental clean-up.
  3. Nasrullah A, Khan H, Khan AS, Man Z, Muhammad N, Khan MI, et al.
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2015;2015:562693.
    PMID: 25705714 DOI: 10.1155/2015/562693
    The ash of C. polygonoides (locally called balanza) was collected from Lakki Marwat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, and was utilized as biosorbent for methylene blue (MB) removal from aqueous solution. The ash was used as biosorbent without any physical or chemical treatment. The biosorbent was characterized by using various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The particle size and surface area were measured using particle size analyzer and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller equation (BET), respectively. The SEM and BET results expressed that the adsorbent has porous nature. Effects of various conditions such as initial concentration of methylene blue (MB), initial pH, contact time, dosage of biosorbent, and stirring rate were also investigated for the adsorption process. The rate of the adsorption of MB on biomass sample was fast, and equilibrium has been achieved within 1 hour. The kinetics of MB adsorption on biosorbent was studied by pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order kinetic models and the pseudo-second-order has better mathematical fit with correlation coefficient value (R (2)) of 0.999. The study revealed that C. polygonoides ash proved to be an effective, alternative, inexpensive, and environmentally benign biosorbent for MB removal from aqueous solution.
  4. Khan MI, Mubashir M, Zaini D, Mahnashi MH, Alyami BA, Alqarni AO, et al.
    J Hazard Mater, 2021 08 05;415:125364.
    PMID: 33740721 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125364
    In the present research work, a comprehensive tool for cumulative ecotoxicological impact assessment of ionic liquids (ILs) to aquatic life has been constructed. Using the probabilistic tool, impact of individual ILs to a group of aquatic species is assessed by chemical toxicity distributions (CTDs). The impact of group of ILs to individual aquatic species is assessed by species sensitivity distributions (SSDs). Acute toxicity data of imidazolium ILs with chloride (Cl-), bromide (Br-), tetrafluoroborate (BF4-), and hexafluorophosphate (PF6-) anions are used in CTD and SSD. Allowable concentrations for a group of Imidazolium ILs with the same mode of action (SMOA) to five aquatic species; Daphnia magna, Vibrio fischeri, Algae, Zebrafish, and Escherichia coli are estimated by CTDs. It has been concluded that 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIMCl) possess the lowest risk at an acceptable risk value of 750 × 10-5 mmol/L which is 12% less than that of OMIMCl. Furthermore, the sensitivities towards the aquatic species reveal that from the studied ILs, BMIMBF4 with an acceptable risk value of 3200 × 10-5 mmol/L is the most suitable IL towards the selected aquatic species. Hence, current work provides cumulative allowable concentrations and acceptable risk values for ILs which release to aquatic compartment of ecosystem.
  5. Usman A, Sutanto MH, Napiah M, Zoorob SE, Yaro NSA, Khan MI
    Polymers (Basel), 2021 Aug 06;13(16).
    PMID: 34451150 DOI: 10.3390/polym13162610
    The utilization of waste polyethylene terephthalate (WPET) as aggregate substitutes in pavement has been extensively promoted because of its environmental advantages. However, previous studies have shown that a high percentage of WPET reduces the performance of the pavement. To increase the durability of pavement and mitigate the environmental issues caused by WPET, WPET is treated with gamma-irradiation as a component in asphalt mixtures. The study objectives were to investigate the feasibility of using WPET granules as a sustainable aggregate on asphalt mixture stiffness and rutting and predict the asphalt mixture performance containing irradiated WPET via an RSM-ANN-framework. To achieve the objectives, stiffness and rutting tests were conducted to evaluate the WPET modified mixtures' performance. The result indicated that samples containing 40% irradiated WPET provided a better performance compared to mixtures containing 20% non-irradiated WPET, increasing the stiffness by 27% and 21% at 25 °C and 40 °C, respectively, and rutting resistance by 11% at 45 °C. Furthermore, both predictive models developed demonstrated excellent reliability. The ANN exhibited superior performance than the RSM. The utilization of WPET as aggregate in asphalt mixtures represents a way to addressing related recycling issues while also improving performance. With gamma-irradiation treatment, the utilization of WPET can be increased with improved asphalt mixture performance.
  6. Rafiq MT, Hamid MSA, Hafiz E, Chaudhary FA, Khan MI
    Curr Rheumatol Rev, 2021;17(4):421-427.
    PMID: 34315379 DOI: 10.2174/1573397117666210727095552
    INTRODUCTION: Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) is a weight-bearing joint disease and is more common in overweight and obese persons. The objective of the study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of Instructions of Daily Care (IDC) on pain, mobility, and Body Mass Index (BMI) among knee OA participants who are overweight or obese.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was an open-label randomized controlled trial of six weeks. Forty overweight and obese participants with knee OA were randomly divided into two groups by a computer-generated number. The participants in the Instruction Group (IG) were provided with leaflets explaining IDC for the duration of six weeks. Both groups were instructed to take low doses of the non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDs) on alternate days. The outcome measures were pain, mobility and BMI. The feasibility and acceptability of knee pain and mobility were assessed using a questionnaire designed by experts in rehabilitation.

    RESULTS: Participants in the IG reported more statistically significant pain relief as assessed by the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index score (p=0.001) and improvement in mobility (p=0.000) assessed by the Timed Up and Go test score after six weeks compared to the Control Group (CG). Both groups did not demonstrate any significant change in BMI (p-value > 0.05). The results of descriptive statistics showed a significantly higher satisfaction score for participants who received a combination of IDC and NSAIDs, indicating an acceptable intervention.

    CONCLUSION: The IDC is effective and acceptable in terms of improving pain and mobility and should be recommended as the usual care of treatment.

  7. Barkat MA, Kaushik P, Barkat HA, Khan MI, Hadi HA
    Drug Res (Stuttg), 2022 Jan 03.
    PMID: 34979573 DOI: 10.1055/a-1697-5365
    The 2019-nCoV (COVID-19; novel coronavirus disease-2019) outbreak is caused by the coronavirus, and its continued spread is responsible for increasing deaths, social and economic burden. COVID-19 created a chaotic situation worldwide and claimed the lives of over 5,027,183 and 248,467,363 confirmed cases have been reported so far as per the data published by WHO (World Health Organization) till 5th November 2021. Scientific communities all over the world are toiling to find a suitable therapeutic drug for this deadly disease. Although till date no promising drug has been discovered for this COVID-19. However, as per the WHO, over 102 COVID-19 vaccines are in clinical development and 185 in pre-clinical development. Naturally occurring phytoconstituents possess considerable chemical richness in the form of anti-viral and anti-parasitic potential and have been extensively exploited for the same globally. Still, phytomedicine-based therapies are considered as the best available treatment option to minimize and treat the symptoms of COVID-19 because of the least possible side effects compared to synthetic drugs recommended by the physicians/clinicians. In this review, the use of plant chemicals as a possible therapeutic agent for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV2) is highlighted with their proposed mechanism of action, which will prove fruitful and effective in finding a cure for this deadly disease.
  8. Zamir Hashmi SR, Khan MI, Khahro SH, Zaid O, Shahid Siddique M, Md Yusoff NI
    Materials (Basel), 2022 Nov 14;15(22).
    PMID: 36431509 DOI: 10.3390/ma15228024
    Carbon footprint reduction, recompense depletion of natural resources, as well as waste recycling are nowadays focused research directions to achieve sustainability without compromising the concrete strength parameters. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to utilize different dosages of marble waste aggregates (MWA) and stone dust (SD) as a replacement for coarse and fine aggregate, respectively. The MWA with 10 to 30% coarse aggregate replacement and SD with 40 to 50% fine aggregate replacement were used to evaluate the physical properties (workability and absorption), durability (acid attack resistance), and strength properties (compressive, flexural, and tensile strength) of concrete. Moreover, statistical modeling was also performed using response surface methodology (RSM) to design the experiment, optimize the MWA and SD dosages, and finally validate the experimental results. Increasing MWA substitutions resulted in higher workability, lower absorption, and lower resistance to acid attack as compared with controlled concrete. However, reduced compressive strength, flexural strength, and tensile strength at 7-day and 28-day cured specimens were observed as compared to the controlled specimen. On the other hand, increasing SD content causes a reduction in workability, higher absorption, and lower resistance to acid attack compared with controlled concrete. Similarly, 7-day and 28-day compressive strength, flexural strength, and tensile strength of SD-substituted concrete showed improvement up to 50% replacement and a slight reduction at 60% replacement. However, the strength of SD substituted concrete is higher than controlled concrete. Quadratic models were suggested based on a higher coefficient of determination (R2) for all responses. Quadratic RSM models yielded R2 equaling 0.90 and 0.94 for compressive strength at 7 days and 28 days, respectively. Similarly, 0.94 and 0.96 for 7-day and 28-day flexural strength and 0.89 for tensile strength. The optimization performed through RSM indicates that 15% MWA and 50% SD yielded higher strength compared to all other mixtures. The predicted optimized data was validated experimentally with an error of less than 5%.
  9. Khan MI, Huat HY, Dun MHBM, Sutanto MH, Jarghouyeh EN, Zoorob SE
    Materials (Basel), 2019 Dec 10;12(24).
    PMID: 31835533 DOI: 10.3390/ma12244133
    In this study the effect of irradiated and non-irradiated waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as replacement of cement and fly-ash in ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and geopolymeric cement (GPC) based cementitious grouts on flexural strength of semi-flexible pavement specimens were evaluated. The porous asphalt gradation was selected based on Malaysian specifications for semi-flexible pavements with a target of 30% air voids. The cement content in the OPC grouts and the fly-ash content in the GPC based grouts were partially replaced with 1.25% PET (using both irradiated and non-irradiated PET). Beam specimens were prepared and tested for flexural strength properties using center point loading configuration. The grouts modified with recycled waste plastic (PET) showed approximately the same results as obtained from the control specimens. Although the replacement amount was low (1.25% by weight of cement), nonetheless, significant impact on reducing CO2 emissions is expected when preparing grouts for mass construction of semi-flexible pavement surfaces. Similarly, effective recycling of waste plastics in road construction and replacing OPC with plastic and geopolymers will have a positive effect on the environment and will furthermore contribute to sustainable pavement construction.
  10. Zhang G, Basit A, Khan MI, Daraz A, Saqib N, Zubir F
    Micromachines (Basel), 2023 Apr 17;14(4).
    PMID: 37421099 DOI: 10.3390/mi14040866
    The key elements used for receiving and processing signals in communication systems are the bandpass filters. Initially, a common operating mechanism was applied for the design of broadband filters, i.e., by cascading low-pass filters or high-pass filters using multiple line resonators with length quarter-half- or full-wavelength with central frequency, but using these approaches, the design topology becomes expensive and complex. The above mechanisms can be possibly overcome using a planar microstrip transmission line structure due to its simple design fabrication procedure and low cost. So, pointing out the above problems in bandpass filters such as low-cost, low insertion loss, and good out-of-band performance, this article presents a broadband filter with multifrequency suppression capability at 4.9 GHz, 8.3 GHz, and 11.5 GHz using a T-shaped shorted stub-loaded resonator with a central square ring coupled to the basic broadband filter. Initially, the C-shaped resonator is utilized for the formation of a stopband at 8.3 GHz for a satellite communication system, and then a shorted square ring resonator is added to the existing C-shaped structure for the realization of two more stopbands at 4.9 GHz and 11.5 GHz for 5G (WLAN 802.11j) communication, respectively. The overall circuit area covered with the proposed filter is 0.52 λg × 0.32 λg (λg is the wavelength of the feed lines at frequency 4.9 GHz). All the loaded stubs are folded in order to save the circuit area, which is an important requirement of next-generation wireless communication systems. The proposed filter has been analyzed using a well-known transmission line theory, even-odd-mode, and simulated with the 3D software HFSS. After the parametric analysis, some attractive features were obtained, i.e., compact structure, simple planar topology, low insertion losses of 0.4 dB over the entire band, good return loss greater than 10 dB, and independently controlled mutli stopbands, which make the proposed design unique and can be used in various wireless communication system applications. Finally, a Rogers RO-4350 substrate is selected for the fabrication of the prototype using an LPKF S63 ProtoLaser machine and then measured using a ZNB20 vector network analyzer for matching the simulated and measured results. After testing the prototype, a good agreement was found between the results.
  11. Ain QU, Khan MA, Yaqoob MM, Khattak UF, Sajid Z, Khan MI, et al.
    Diagnostics (Basel), 2023 Jul 04;13(13).
    PMID: 37443658 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics13132264
    Cancer, including the highly dangerous melanoma, is marked by uncontrolled cell growth and the possibility of spreading to other parts of the body. However, the conventional approach to machine learning relies on centralized training data, posing challenges for data privacy in healthcare systems driven by artificial intelligence. The collection of data from diverse sensors leads to increased computing costs, while privacy restrictions make it challenging to employ traditional machine learning methods. Researchers are currently confronted with the formidable task of developing a skin cancer prediction technique that takes privacy concerns into account while simultaneously improving accuracy. In this work, we aimed to propose a decentralized privacy-aware learning mechanism to accurately predict melanoma skin cancer. In this research we analyzed federated learning from the skin cancer database. The results from the study showed that 92% accuracy was achieved by the proposed method, which was higher than baseline algorithms.
  12. Siyal AA, Shamsuddin MR, Khan MI, Rabat NE, Zulfiqar M, Man Z, et al.
    J Environ Manage, 2018 Oct 15;224:327-339.
    PMID: 30056352 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.07.046
    The world water resources are contaminated due to discharge of a large number of pollutants from industrial and domestic sources. A variety of a single and multiple units of physical, chemical, and biological processes are employed for pollutants removal from wastewater. Adsorption is the most widely utilized process due to high efficiency, simple procedure and cost effectiveness. This paper reviews the research work carried out on the use of geopolymer materials for the adsorption of heavy metals and dyes. Geopolymers possess good surface properties, heterogeneous microstructure and amorphous structure. The performance of geopolymers in the removal of heavy metals and dyes is reported comparable to other materials. The pseudo-second order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm models mostly fit to the adsorption data suggesting homogeneous distribution of adsorption sites with the formation of monolayer adsorbate on the surface of geopolymers. Adsorption of heavy metals and dyes onto geopolymers is spontaneous, endothermic and entropy driven process. Future research should focus on the enhancement of geopolymer performance, testing on pollutants other than heavy metals and dyes, and verification on real wastewater in continuous operation.
  13. Algaifi HA, Khan MI, Shahidan S, Fares G, Abbas YM, Huseien GF, et al.
    Materials (Basel), 2021 Oct 19;14(20).
    PMID: 34683800 DOI: 10.3390/ma14206208
    The development of self-compacting alkali-activated concrete (SCAAC) has become a hot topic in the scientific community; however, most of the existing literature focuses on the utilization of fly ash (FA), ground blast furnace slag (GBFS), silica fume (SF), and rice husk ash (RHA) as the binder. In this study, both the experimental and theoretical assessments using response surface methodology (RSM) were taken into account to optimize and predict the optimal content of ceramic waste powder (CWP) in GBFS-based self-compacting alkali-activated concrete, thus promoting the utilization of ceramic waste in construction engineering. Based on the suggested design array from the RSM model, experimental tests were first carried out to determine the optimum CWP content to achieve reasonable compressive, tensile, and flexural strengths in the SCAAC when exposed to ambient conditions, as well as to minimize its strength loss, weight loss, and UPVL upon exposure to acid attack. Based on the results, the optimum content of CWP that satisfied both the strength and durability aspects was 31%. In particular, a reasonable reduction in the compressive strength of 16% was recorded compared to that of the control specimen (without ceramic). Meanwhile, the compressive strength loss of SCAAC when exposed to acid attack minimized to 59.17%, which was lower than that of the control specimen (74.2%). Furthermore, the developed RSM models were found to be reliable and accurate, with minimum errors (RMSE < 1.337). In addition, a strong correlation (R > 0.99, R2 < 0.99, adj. R2 < 0.98) was observed between the predicted and actual data. Moreover, the significance of the models was also proven via ANOVA, in which p-values of less than 0.001 and high F-values were recorded for all equations.
  14. Iftikhar B, Alih SC, Vafaei M, Javed MF, Rehman MF, Abdullaev SS, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2023 Jul 27;13(1):12149.
    PMID: 37500697 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39349-2
    Plastic sand paver blocks provide a sustainable alternative by using plastic waste and reducing the need for cement. This innovative approach leads to a more sustainable construction sector by promoting environmental preservation. No model or Equation has been devised that can predict the compressive strength of these blocks. This study utilized gene expression programming (GEP) and multi-expression programming (MEP) to develop empirical models to forecast the compressive strength of plastic sand paver blocks (PSPB) comprised of plastic, sand, and fibre in an effort to advance the field. The database contains 135 results for compressive strength with seven input parameters. The R2 values of 0.87 for GEP and 0.91 for MEP for compressive strength reveal a relatively significant relationship between predicted and actual values. MEP outperformed GEP by displaying a higher R2 and lower values for statistical evaluations. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was conducted, which revealed that the sand grain size and percentage of fibres play an essential part in compressive strength. It was estimated that they contributed almost 50% of the total. The outcomes of this research have the potential to promote the reuse of PSPB in the building of green environments, hence boosting environmental protection and economic advantage.
  15. Ahmad P, Khandaker MU, Muhammad N, Rehman F, Ullah Z, Khan G, et al.
    Appl Radiat Isot, 2020 Dec;166:109404.
    PMID: 32956924 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109404
    The shortcomings in Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) and Hyperthermia for killing the tumor cell desired for the synthesis of a new kind of material suitable to be first used in BNCT and later on enable the conditions for Hyperthermia to destroy the tumor cell. The desire led to the synthesis of large band gap semiconductor nano-size Boron-10 enriched crystals of hexagonal boron nitride (10BNNCs). The contents of 10BNNCs are analyzed with the help of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and counter checked with Raman and XRD. The 10B-contents in 10BNNCs produce 7Li and 4He nuclei. A Part of the 7Li and 4He particles released in the cell is allowed to kill the tumor (via BNCT) whereas the rest produce electron-hole pairs in the semiconductor layer of 10BNNCs suggested to work in Hyperthermia with an externally applied field.
  16. Ahmad P, Khandaker MU, Khan A, Rehman F, Din SU, Ali H, et al.
    Biomed Res Int, 2022;2022:3605054.
    PMID: 36420094 DOI: 10.1155/2022/3605054
    A simple process based on the dual roles of both magnesium oxide (MgO) and iron oxide (FeO) with boron (B) as precursors and catalysts has been developed for the synthesis of borate composites of magnesium and iron (Mg2B2O5-Fe3BO6) at 1200°C. The as-synthesized composites can be a single material with the improved and collective properties of both iron borates (Fe3BO6) and magnesium borates (Mg2B2O5). At higher temperatures, the synthesized Mg2B2O5-Fe3BO6 composite is found thermally more stable than the single borates of both magnesium and iron. Similarly, the synthesized composites are found to prevent the growth of both gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli) pathogenic bacteria on all the tested concentrations. Moreover, the inhibitory effect of the synthesized composite increases with an increase in concentration and is more pronounced against S. aureus as compared to E. coli.
  17. Hussain A, Khan MI, Albaqami M, Mahpara S, Noorka IR, Ahmed MAA, et al.
    Int J Mol Sci, 2021 Nov 08;22(21).
    PMID: 34769521 DOI: 10.3390/ijms222112091
    The WRKY transcription factors (TFs) network is composed of WRKY TFs' subset, which performs a critical role in immunity regulation of plants. However, functions of WRKY TFs' network remain unclear, particularly in non-model plants such as pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). This study functionally characterized CaWRKY30-a member of group III Pepper WRKY protein-for immunity of pepper against Ralstonia solanacearum infection. The CaWRKY30 was detected in nucleus, and its transcriptional expression levels were significantly upregulated by R. solanacearum inoculation (RSI), and foliar application ethylene (ET), abscisic acid (ABA), and salicylic acid (SA). Virus induced gene silencing (VIGS) of CaWRKY30 amplified pepper's vulnerability to RSI. Additionally, the silencing of CaWRKY30 by VIGS compromised HR-like cell death triggered by RSI and downregulated defense-associated marker genes, like CaPR1, CaNPR1, CaDEF1, CaABR1, CaHIR1, and CaWRKY40. Conversely, transient over-expression of CaWRKY30 in pepper leaves instigated HR-like cell death and upregulated defense-related maker genes. Furthermore, transient over-expression of CaWRKY30 upregulated transcriptional levels of CaWRKY6, CaWRKY22, CaWRKY27, and CaWRKY40. On the other hand, transient over-expression of CaWRKY6, CaWRKY22, CaWRKY27, and CaWRKY40 upregulated transcriptional expression levels of CaWRKY30. The results recommend that newly characterized CaWRKY30 positively regulates pepper's immunity against Ralstonia attack, which is governed by synergistically mediated signaling by phytohormones like ET, ABA, and SA, and transcriptionally assimilating into WRKY TFs networks, consisting of CaWRKY6, CaWRKY22, CaWRKY27, and CaWRKY40. Collectively, our data will facilitate to explicate the underlying mechanism of crosstalk between pepper's immunity and response to RSI.
  18. Ullah S, Khan MI, Khan MN, Ali U, Ali B, Iqbal R, et al.
    ACS Omega, 2023 Jun 13;8(23):20488-20504.
    PMID: 37323381 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c00753
    The threat of varying global climates has greatly driven the attention of scientists, as climate change increases the odds of worsening drought in many parts of Pakistan and the world in the decades ahead. Keeping in view the forthcoming climate change, the present study aimed to evaluate the influence of varying levels of induced drought stress on the physiological mechanism of drought resistance in selected maize cultivars. The sandy loam rhizospheric soil with moisture content 0.43-0.5 g g-1, organic matter (OM) 0.43-0.55 g/kg, N 0.022-0.027 g/kg, P 0.028-0.058 g/kg, and K 0.017-0.042 g/kg was used in the present experiment. The findings showed that a significant drop in the leaf water status, chlorophyll content, and carotenoid content was linked to an increase in sugar, proline, and antioxidant enzyme accumulation at p < 0.05 under induced drought stress, along with an increase in protein content as a dominant response for both cultivars. SVI-I & II, RSR, LAI, LAR, TB, CA, CB, CC, peroxidase (POD), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) content under drought stress were studied for variance analysis in terms of interactions between drought and NAA treatment and were found significant at p < 0.05 after 15 days. It has been found that the exogenous application of NAA alleviated the inhibitory effect of only short-term water stress, but yield loss due to long-term osmotic stress will not be faced employing growth regulators. Climate-smart agriculture is the only approach to reduce the detrimental impact of global fluctuations, such as drought stress, on crop adaptability before they have a significant influence on world crop production.
  19. Ullah H, Qureshi KS, Khan U, Zaffar M, Yang YJ, Rabat NE, et al.
    Chemosphere, 2021 Dec;285:131492.
    PMID: 34273691 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131492
    The restoration of mechanical properties is desired for creating the self-healing coatings with no corrosion capabilities. The encapsulation of epoxy resins is limited by various factors in urea and melamine formaldehyde microcapsules. An improved method was developed, where epoxy resin was encapsulated by individual wrapping of poly(melamine-formaldehyde) and poly(urea-formaldehyde) shell around emulsified epoxy droplets via oil-in-water emulsion polymerization method. The synthesized materials were characterized analytically. The curing of the epoxy was achieved by adding the [Ni/Co(2-MI)6].2NO3 as a latent hardener and iron acetylacetonate [Fe(acac)3] as a latent accelerator. Isothermal and non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetric analysis revealed lower curing temperature (Tonset = 116 °C) and lower activation energies (Ea ≈ 69-75 kJ/mol). The addition of microcapsules and complexes did not adversely alter the flexural strength and flexural modulus of the epoxy coatings. The adhesion strength of neat coating decreased from 6310.8 ± 31 to 4720.9 ± 60 kPa and percent healing increased from 50.83 to 67.45% in the presence of acetylacetonate complex at 10 wt% of microcapsules.
  20. Khor CC, Do T, Jia H, Nakano M, George R, Abu-Amero K, et al.
    Nat Genet, 2016 May;48(5):556-62.
    PMID: 27064256 DOI: 10.1038/ng.3540
    Primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) is a major cause of blindness worldwide. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) followed by replication in a combined total of 10,503 PACG cases and 29,567 controls drawn from 24 countries across Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. We observed significant evidence of disease association at five new genetic loci upon meta-analysis of all patient collections. These loci are at EPDR1 rs3816415 (odds ratio (OR) = 1.24, P = 5.94 × 10(-15)), CHAT rs1258267 (OR = 1.22, P = 2.85 × 10(-16)), GLIS3 rs736893 (OR = 1.18, P = 1.43 × 10(-14)), FERMT2 rs7494379 (OR = 1.14, P = 3.43 × 10(-11)), and DPM2-FAM102A rs3739821 (OR = 1.15, P = 8.32 × 10(-12)). We also confirmed significant association at three previously described loci (P < 5 × 10(-8) for each sentinel SNP at PLEKHA7, COL11A1, and PCMTD1-ST18), providing new insights into the biology of PACG.
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