First Molecular Characterization of Hypoderma actaeon in Cattle and Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) in Portugal

Haroon Ahmed,Sérgio Ramalho Sousa,sami simsek,Sofia Anastácio,Seyma Gunyakti Kilinc 대한기생충학ㆍ열대의학회 2017 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.55 No.6

Hypoderma spp. larvae cause subcutaneous myiasis in several animal species. The objective of the present investigation was to identify and characterize morphologically and molecularly the larvae of Hypoderma spp. collected from cattle (Bos taurus taurus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) in the district of Castelo Branco, Portugal. For this purpose, a total of 8 larvae were collected from cattle (n=2) and red deer (n=6). After morphological identification of Hypoderma spp. larvae, molecular characterization was based on PCR-RFLP and mitochondrial CO1 gene sequence analysis. All larvae were morphologically characterized as the third instar larvae (L3) of H. actaeon. Two restriction enzymes were used for molecular identification of the larvae. TaqI restriction enzyme was not able to cut H. actaeon. However, MboII restriction enzyme differentiated Hypoderma species showing 210 and 450 bp bands in H. actaeon. Furthermore, according to the alignment of the mt-CO1 gene sequences of Hypoderma species and to PCR-RFLP findings, all the identified Hypoderma larvae were confirmed as H. actaeon. This is the first report of identification of Hypoderma spp. (Diptera; Oestridae) from cattle and red deer in Portugal, based on morphological and molecular analyses.

Seroprevalence and Spatial Distribution of Toxoplasmosis in Sheep and Goats in North-Eastern Region of Pakistan

Haroon Ahmed,Ayesha Malik,Irfan Mustafa,Muhammad Arshad,Mobushir Riaz Khan,Sohail Afzal,Shahzad Ali,M. Mobeen Hashmi,Sami Simsek 대한기생충학열대의학회 2016 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.54 No.4

Optimality of Linear MIMO Detection for 5G Systems via 1-Opt Local Search

Khurshid Kiran,Khan Adnan Ahmed,Siddiqui Muhammad Haroon,Hadi M. Usman,Rashid Imran,Imran Muhammad 대한전기학회 2021 Journal of Electrical Engineering & Technology Vol.16 No.2

Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) symbol detection problem belongs to non-deterministic polynomial acceptable hard combinatorial optimization (CO) class. One of the key trials in design of MIMO scheme is to develop a low complexity detection algorithm without much compromise in performance. Detection approaches proposed in the literature can be split into non-linear and linear algorithms. Vertical Bell-Labs Layered Space Time (V-BLAST) and Sphere Decoder (SD) are non-linear methods used for extracting transmitted data; whereas, Zero-Forcing (ZF) and Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) detections are comparatively in complex and eff ectual linear techniques. In this work, the heuristic 1-Opt local search method used for solving computationally hard combinatorial optimization problems is applied to the ZF and MMSE detection algorithms. First, simple MIMO decoding using ZF and MMSE is accomplished to fi nd the estimated symbol then the transmitted symbol is calculated using the heuristic 1-opt approach by means of the estimated symbol. Simulation results demonstrate that 1-opt search when applied to the ZF and MMSE displays better bit error rate (BER) performance than the simple ZF and MMSE detectors. It is also verifi ed through simulations that the proposed 1-Opt based detectors display better BER performance as compared to the complex nonlinear VBLAST and SD at considerably reduced complexity. Hence, the proposed detectors are appropriate for eff ective hardware implementations.

A Retrospective Analysis on the Cystic Echinococcosis Cases Occured in Northeastern Punjab Province, Pakistan

Aisha Khan,Sarmad Zahoor,Haroon Ahmed,Uzma Malik,Rabia Amin Butt,Muhammad Sultanul Muzam,Seyma Gunyakti Kilinc,Noorulain Noor,Saroosh Zahoor,Muhammad Sohail Afzal,Hamza Mansur,Shumaila Irum,Sami Simse 대한기생충학열대의학회 2018 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.56 No.4

Comprehensive Account on Prevalence and Characteristics of Hydatid Cysts in Livestock from Pakistan

Naunain Mehmood,Muhammad Arshad,Haroon Ahmed,Sami Simsek,Hira Muqaddas 대한기생충학ㆍ열대의학회 2020 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.58 No.2

Pakistan is at intersection of hyperendemic regions for hydatidosis. Current study aimed to determine the prevalence of hydatid cysts and cyst characteristics in different intermediate hosts (sheep, goats, cattle and buffaloes) across the 4 provinces of Pakistan. A total of 991 sheep, 1,478 goats, 1,602 cattle and 1,343 buffaloes were examined for presence of hydatid cysts during 2 years (January 2016-December 2018). Differences in frequency of hydatidosis were observed with highest overall prevalence in buffaloes (11.9%) and sheep (11.5%). Highest prevalence and burden of infection were observed in older age animals (23.8%, 9.78±0.49) and females (26.5%, 12.53±0.67). Data for seasonal prevalence alluded to year-round presence of disease with non-significant statistical difference. Organ predilection indicated liver as the most preferred site of cyst localization followed mainly by lungs. An over-dispersion pattern was observed in all infected animals as majority of cysts belonged <10 cysts per infected host category. Highest percentage of fertile cysts was observed in liver of sheep. Interestingly, solitary form of cysts had higher fertility rate than multiple form. Amid lack of data and wide gap of knowledge, this study would try to fill up the lacunae regarding this neglected tropical disease. Extensive rearing of livestock, unregulated official slaughter and home slaughtering have played role in adaptability of E. granulosus in Pakistan.

HMM-based Scheme for Smart Instructor Activity Recognition in a Lecture Room Environment

Asim Raza,Muhammad Haroon Yousaf,Hassan Ahmed Sial,Gulistan Raja 한국산학기술학회 2015 SmartCR Vol.5 No.6

Instructor activity recognition can certainly play its part as an important parameter in evaluating and improving the performance of an instructor. This paper presents a single-layered sequential approach for instructor activity recognition in the lecture room environment. A hidden Markov model (HMM) scheme is selected as a sequential approach for activity recognition. The proposed system incorporates the five major activities of the instructor in the lecture room, i.e. walking, writing, pointing towards the board, standing, and pointing towards presentations. Background/foreground modelling is carried out using a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) for instructor detection in the lecture room. Mesh features are selected to represent the instructor. After vector quantization, features are passed to the HMM for activity recognition. Time is tracked, and the occurrences of each activity are counted to elaborate on the activities the instructor performed during the lecture. The proposed scheme proved to be efficient owing to its high accuracy rate of over 90 percent in recognizing five different activities of an instructor as tested in a MATLAB simulation environment.

Driving force for forest fragmentation explored by land use change in Song watershed, India

Mehebub Sahana,Raihan Ahmed,Purva Jain,Haroon Sajjad 대한공간정보학회 2016 Spatial Information Research Vol.24 No.6

This study attempts to assess forest fragmentation and degradation in response to land use/land cover changes in Song watershed, India during 1998–2014. Landsat TM and Landsat 8 OLI satellite data across two dates (1998 and 2014) were used to analyze land use/land cover change and its impact on forest cover. The extent of forest degradation was analyzed using fragmentation model. Four categories of disturbance viz. core, perforated, edge and patch were obtained using 200 meters edge width. The result shows overall decrease of 7% in area under forest over 16 years. Area under open forest, mixed land use/land cover I (agriculture, forest and built up) and mixed land use/land cover III (agriculture and built up) has significantly increased while area under dense forest has decreased during the study period. Fragmentation model revealed lots of disturbance in forest located in mixed land use/land cover areas. Perforated and patch classes of forest have experienced a significant increase in their respective areas while core area has decreased at the expense of other fragmentation classes. Degradation of forest occurred at large scale at Hrishikesh and Thano forest ranges of Dehradun district and Gadol range in Tehri Garhwal district lying in the watershed. Rishikesh city in Dehradun district located in southern part of watershed recorded increase in patches due to developmental activities. Remote sensing and fragmentation model showed their effectiveness in analyzing forest degradation and monitoring the health of the forest in the watershed.

Land suitability assessment for optimal cropping sequences in Katihar district of Bihar, India using GIS and AHP

Vinay Prasad Mandal,Sufia Rehman,Raihan Ahmed,Md. Masroor,Pavan Kumar,Haroon Sajjad 대한공간정보학회 2020 Spatial Information Research Vol.28 No.5

The main objective of the study is to assess land suitability for suggesting suitable crop sequences in Katihar district of Bihar, India. We first selected site-specific factors and assigned their weights using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) for land suitability assessment. The layers of factors were integrated to prepare land suitability map. The findings revealed that of the total area (3.05 million ha), the largest area (48.5%) was marginally suitable for agriculture followed by moderately suitable (30.8%) and highly suitable (2.9%). Nearly 17.8% area was found unsuitable for agriculture. Rice–maize– rice, rice–maize–jute and maize–maize–rice were found suitable crop sequences in all suitability classes. Multilinear regression analysis between land suitability and factors shows that soil texture, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, pH and drainage proximity influenced land suitability. The study suggested soil reclamation, application of adequate amount of fertilizers, assured irrigation and flood control for sustainable crop sequences in the study area. Land restoration and soil reclamation measures should be taken to transform unsuitable areas for crop cultivation. Use of integrated geographical information system and AHP approach for analyzing land suitability and crop sequences may add a new dimension in spatial information science.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluations of Enoxacin Carboxamide Derivatives

M. Saeed Arayne,Najma Sultana,Urooj Haroon,M. Ahmed Mesaik,Muhammad Asif 대한약학회 2009 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.32 No.7

The present work deals with the synthesis of various enoxacin analogues via nucleophilic substitution of 3- carboxylic acid moiety of the drug by aromatic amines. The free carboxylic group was utilized in the formation of amides and the effect of functional group exchange on different biological activities of the parent was evaluated. The structure of these derivatives was established by various spectroscopic techniques and mass spectrometry. The derivatives were evaluated as antibacterial agents against a series of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria whereby some of them displayed considerably improved antimicrobial profile against Gramnegative test strains. Additionally unlike enoxacin, the derivatives were also found to modulate oxidative burst response of phagocytes exhibiting moderate to significant inhibitory activity.

Gastrointestinal, Liver and Biliary Tract Pathology: A Histopathological and Epidemiological Perspective from Pakistan with a Review of the Literature

Ahmad, Zubair,Arshad, Huma,Fatima, Saira,Idrees, Romana,Ud-Din, Nasir,Ahmed, Rashida,Ahmed, Arsalan,Memon, Aisha,Minhas, Khurram,Arif, Muhammad,Fatima, Samia,Haroon, Saroona,Pervez, Shahid,Hasan, Shee Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.11

Aim: To present an epidemiological and histological perspective of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (including liver and biliary tract) at the Section of Histopathology, Department of Pathology, AKUH, Karachi, Pakistan. Materials and Methods: All consecutive endoscopic biopsies and resections between October 1 and December 31, 2012 were included. Results: A total of 2,323 cases were included. Carcinoma was overwhelmingly the commonest diagnosis on esophageal biopsies (69.1%); chronic helicobacter gastritis (45.6%) followed by adenocarcinoma (23.5%) were the commonest diagnoses on gastric biopsies; adenocarcinoma (27.3%) followed by ulcerative colitis (13.1%) were the commonest diagnoses on colonic biopsies; acute appendicitis (59.1%) was the commonest diagnosis on appendicectomy specimens; chronic viral hepatitis (44.8%) followed by hepatocellular carcinoma (23.4%) were the commonest diagnoses on liver biopsies; chronic cholecystitis was the commonest diagnosis (over 89%) on cholecystectomy specimens. Conclusions: Squamous cell carcinoma comprised 88.8% of esophageal cancers. About 67% were in the lower third and 56.5% were moderately differentiated; mean ages 49.8 years for females and 55.8 years for males; 66% cases were from South West Pakistan. Over 67% patients with gastric adenocarcinoma were males; mean ages 59 and 44 years in males and females respectively, about 74% gastric carcinomas were poorly differentiated; and 62.2% were located in the antropyloric region. About 63% patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma were males; mean ages 46.1 and 50.5 years for males and females respectively; tumor grade was moderately differentiated in 54%; over 80% were located in the left colon. In 21.2% appendicectomies, no acute inflammation was found. Acute appendicitis was most common in young people. Hepatitis C (66.3%) was more common than hepatitis B (33.7%); about 78% cases of hepatocellular carcinoma occurred in males; females comprised 76.7% patients with chronic cholecystitis; and 77.8% patients with gall bladder carcinoma. All resection specimens showed advanced cancers. Most cancers occurred after the age of 50 years.