No abstract

No abstract

Brassica napus L. is important oilseed crop, having higher oil contents (40%) with low contents of glucosinolate and erucic acid, make it perfect for edible purpose. Ten Brassica napus L. genotypes were crossed in line × tester mating design. Seven high yielding female lines were crossed with 3 low yielding testers. The 21 F1’s along with parents were evaluated in Randomized Complete Block Design with three repetitions in the field of Department of Plant Breeding and genetics, UAF. Out of thirteen attributes, eleven attributes (plant height, days taken to flower initiation, days taken to 50% flower initiation, number of primary branches, number of secondary branches, number of siliques per plant, siliqua length, seed yield per plant, 100-seed weight, seed yield per plot and oil content) showed significant results for all genotypes under study while two attributes (seed per siliqua and protein content) were non-significant. The parent ZN-M-9 was chosen as excellent overall combiner for plant height, days taken to flower initiation, days to 50% flowering and number of siliques plant-1 and ZM-M-6 and Rainbow identified as the excellent general combiner for the seed yield plant-1 and seed yield per plot, respectively. The cross ZN-M-9 × ZMR-3 & DGL × ZN-R-1 identified as good specific combiners for seed yield plant-1 and seed yield plot-1, respectively. The cross ZM-M-6 × ZMR-3 was selected as best for days taken to first flower beginning, days taken to 50% flowering, and oil content on the basis of better parent heterosis. The genetic information obtained in this research will be helpful for the breeder during their future breeding program

Background: Depression and anxiety are among the most comorbid disorders in End stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Most of the scales currently in use for screening of anxiety and depression are translated into Urdu language from English. Aga khan university anxiety and depression scales (AKUADS) ,a scale developed in Urdu language contains items that assess for psychological as well as somatic symptoms of anxiety and depression. The aim of the current study was to compare the AKUADS with two other commonly used scales for the detection of anxiety and depression in ESRD patients Materials and methods: Current inpatients at Nephrology unit, Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore who were on dialysis were invited to take part in the study. Patients who provided informed written consent were administered three psychiatric rating scales: AKUADS, patient health questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) for assessment of depression and General anxiety disorder 7 (GAD-7) for assessment of anxiety. Results: AKUADS was strongly related to both GAD-7 and PHQ-9. The prevalence rate of depression in our patients was 36.4% (Mild depression) as assessed by PHQ-9 and of anxiety was 24.6% as assessed by GAD-7. The prevalence of anxiety and depression as assessed by AKUADS was 33%. Female participants were significantly more likely to have higher scores on all the three scales as compared to male patients Conclusions: AKUADS can be used for the screening of anxiety and depressive disorders in the local population and is well correlated with other more widely used and well validated psychiatric rating scales.

Introduction: Chronic HCV infection has been implicated as a risk factor for new onset diabetes mellitus type II and worsening of glycemic control in patients with already established Diabetes due to defined molecular mechanisms. The impact of successful HCV eradication with direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) on glycemic control in HCV patients with concomitant Diabetes mellitus is being assessed by several studies but still unclear due to scarce data in literature, which specifically address this aspect of DAAs. Objective: To study the impact of successful HCV eradication with DAAs based regimes on glycemic control in a cohort of Chronic HCV patients with concomitant Type II Diabetes Mellitus. Materials and Methods Study design: Descriptive Case series Study place: Department of Gastroenterology, Lahore General Hospital, Lahore. Duration: Six months i.e. 15-2-2021 to 15-8-2021 Data collection procedure: 110 patients, who fulfill the inclusion, were enrolled in the study.All patients of Hepatitis C received DAAs in the form of Oral Sofosbuvir 400 mg and Oral Daclatasvir 60 mg daily for 12 weeks without Ribavirin. Only Child Pugh class A and class B patients were included. Before starting treatment glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and Viral load by HCV RNA polymerase chain reaction was also checked. All the patients were followed at the end of treatment i.e. at 12 weeks( from the baseline ) and then three months after treatment (at 24 weeks), for viral load testing by HCV RNA polymerase chain reaction and HbA1c levels. Results: In this study 91% patients achieved sustained virological response and 83% of the patients achieved improved glycemic control after successful HCV eradication. Age (23-33: 16.5%, 34-44: 40.7%, 44-54: 29.7% p-value=0.728) and gender (Male: 39.6% & Female: 60.4%, p-value=0.142) have no significant association with glycemic control of patients. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that oral DAAs can help improving the glucose levels and glycemic control significantly in HCV patients with concomitant Type II diabetes mellitus and successful HCV eradication can prevent the long term complications of diabetes and may need dose reduction for insulin therapy in these patients Keywords: Glycemic control, dual-acting antiviral agents, chronic hepatitis C virus infection, Diabetes Mellitus