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Abstract During this one year study, blood and fecal samples of doves (Zenaida asiatica), ducks (Anas platyrhynchos), pigeons (Columba livia), partridges (Alectoris chukar), turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) and goose (Chen caerulescens) were collected to assess the parasitic prevalence in these birds. The birds were kept at Avian Conservation and Research Center, Department of Wildlife and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore. All these avian species were kept in separate cages and their entire body was inspected on regularly basis to record external parasites. For internal parasites, 100 blood and 100 fecal samples for each species were analyzed. During present study, two species of ectoparasites i.e. fowl ticks (Args persicus) and mite (Dermanyssus gallinae) while 17 species of endoparasites; three from blood and 14 from fecal samples were identified. Prevalence of blood parasites was Plasmodium juxtanucleare 29.3%, Aegyptinella pullorum 15% and Leucoctoyzoon simond 13%. Parasitic species recorded from fecal samples included 6 species of nematodes viz. Syngamus trachea with parasitic prevalence of 50%, Capillaria anatis 40%, Capillaria annulata 37.5%, Heterakis gallinarum 28.3%, Ascardia galli 24% and Allodpa suctoria 2%. Similarly, two species of trematodes viz. Prosthogonimus ovatus having parasitic prevalence of 12.1% and Prosthogonimus macrorchis 9.1% were also recorded from fecal samples of the birds. Single cestode species Raillietina echinobothrida having parasitic prevalence of 27% and 3 protozoan species i.e. Eimeria maxima having prevalence 20.1%, Histomonas meleagridis 8% and Giardia lamblia 5.3% were recorded. In our recommendation, proper medication and sanitation of the bird’s houses and cages is recommended to avoid parasites. Resumo Durante este estudo de um ano, amostras de sangue e fezes de pombos (Zenaida asiatica), patos (Anas platyrhynchos), pombos (Columba livia), perdizes (Alectoris chukar), perus (Meleagris gallopavo) e ganso (Chen caerulescens) foram coletados para avaliar a prevalência de parasitas nessas aves. As aves foram mantidas no Centro de Conservação e Pesquisa de Aves, Departamento de Vida Selvagem e Ecologia, Universidade de Veterinária e Ciências Animais, Lahore. Todas essas espécies de aves foram mantidas em gaiolas separadas e todo o seu corpo foi inspecionado regularmente para registrar parasitas externos. Para parasitas internos, foram analisadas 100 amostras de sangue e 100 amostras fecais de cada espécie. Durante o presente estudo, duas espécies de ectoparasitas, ou seja, carrapatos de aves (Args persicus) e ácaros (Dermanyssus gallinae), enquanto 17 espécies de endoparasitas, três de sangue e 14 de amostras fecais, foram identificadas. Os parasitas sanguíneos prevalentes foram Plasmodium juxtanucleare, 29,3%, Aegyptinella pullorum, 15%, e Leucoctoyzoon simond, 13%. As espécies parasitas registradas em amostras fecais incluíram 6 espécies de nematoides viz. Syngamus traqueia com prevalência parasitária de 50%, Capillaria anatis, 40%, Capillaria annulata, 37,5%, Heterakis gallinarum, 28,3%, Ascardia galli, 24% e Allodpa suctoria, 2%. Da mesma forma, duas espécies de trematódeos viz. Prosthogonimus ovatus com prevalência parasitária de 12,1% e Prosthogonimus macrorchis, 9,1%, também foram registrados nas amostras fecais das aves. Espécies de cestoide único Raillietina echinobothrida com prevalência parasitária de 27% e 3 espécies de protozoários, ou seja, Eimeria maxima tendo prevalência de 20,1%, Histomonas meleagridis, 8%, e Giardia lamblia, 5,3%, foram registradas. Em nossa recomendação, são indicados medicação adequada e saneamento das casas e gaiolas dos pássaros para evitar parasitas.

Abstract Cadmium (Cd) is one of the major toxicants, which affects human health through occupational and environmental exposure. In the current study, we evaluated the protective effects of morel mushrooms against Cd-induced reproductive damages in rats. For this purpose, 30 male rats were divided into 6 groups (n=5/group), the first group served as the control group, second group was treated with an intraperitoneal (i.p) injection of 1 mg/kg/day of Cd. Third and fourth groups were co-treated with 1 mg/kg/day of Cd (i.p) and 10 and 20 mg/kg/day of morel mushroom extract (orally) respectively. The final 2 groups received oral gavage of 10 and 20 mg/kg/day of morel mushroom extract alone. After treatment for 17 days, the animals were euthanized, and testes and epididymis were dissected out. One testis and epididymis of each animal were processed for histology, while the other testis and epididymis were used for daily sperm production (DSP) and comet assay. Our results showed that Cd and morel mushrooms have no effect on animal weight, but Cd significantly decreases the DSP count and damages the heritable DNA which is reversed in co-treatment groups. Similarly, the histopathological results of testes and epididymis show that morel mushrooms control the damage to these tissues. Whereas the morel mushroom extract alone could enhance the production of testosterone. These results conclude that morel mushrooms not only control the damage done by Cd, but it could also be used as a protection mechanism for heritable DNA damage. Resumo O cádmio (Cd) é um dos principais tóxicos, que afeta a saúde humana por meio da exposição ocupacional e ambiental. No presente estudo, avaliamos os efeitos protetores dos cogumelos morel contra os danos reprodutivos induzidos pelo Cd em ratos. Para tanto, 30 ratos machos foram divididos em 6 grupos (n = 5 / grupo); o primeiro grupo serviu de controle, o segundo grupo foi tratado com injeção intraperitoneal (i.p) de 1 mg / kg / dia de Cd. O terceiro e o quarto grupos foram cotratados com 1 mg / kg / dia de Cd (i.p) e 10 e 20 mg / kg / dia de extrato de cogumelo morel (por via oral), respectivamente. Os dois grupos finais receberam gavagem oral de 10 e 20 mg / kg / dia de extrato de cogumelo morel sozinho. Após o tratamento por 17 dias, os animais foram sacrificados e os testículos e o epidídimo foram dissecados. Um testículo e epidídimo de cada animal foram processados para histologia, enquanto o outro testículo e epidídimo foram usados para produção diária de esperma (DSP) e ensaio cometa. Nossos resultados mostraram que os cogumelos Cd e morel não têm efeito sobre o peso do animal, mas o Cd diminui significativamente a contagem de DSP e danifica o DNA hereditário, que é revertido em grupos de cotratamento. Da mesma forma, os resultados histopatológicos dos testículos e do epidídimo mostram que os cogumelos morel controlam os danos a esses tecidos. Considerando que o extrato de cogumelo morel sozinho pode aumentar a produção de testosterona. Esses resultados concluem que os cogumelos morel não apenas controlam os danos causados pelo Cd, mas também podem ser usados como um mecanismo de proteção para danos hereditários ao DNA.

This is a linguistic and semiotic study of the newspaper front pages that reported the death of Queen Elizabeth II. A sample of 61 front pages was collected from various British and non-British newspapers on Friday 9 September, 2022. The headlines reporting the death of the Queen were linguistically analysed focusing on euphemistic means. The pictures accompanying the headlines were semiotically investigated to see how the Queen was visually mourned and if there were any subtle semiotic euphemisms. Reporting the death of the Queen, linguistic and semiotic polarities can be observed on the newspaper front pages under investigation: direct versus indirect reporting. The findings reveal that 70.5% of the headlines reported the tragic news indirectly avoiding the verb ‘die’, the noun ‘death’ and the adjective ‘dead’. Similarly, the semiotic analysis shows that more newspapers displayed coloured (67%) recent (57%) pictures of the Queen showing her cheerful (56%). Avoiding the words ‘die’, ‘death’ and ‘dead’ and displaying the Queen in coloured cheerful pictures demonstrate that newspapers favoured both subtle linguistic and semiotic euphemisms in reporting the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The findings illustrate how humans, consciously and unconsciously, safeguard themselves against the discourse of death by utilizing both linguistic and semiotic euphemisms.

This study investigates how retailers in Jordan refer to Black Friday when they advertise their discounted products during the end-of-year sales. Black Friday is a culturally loaded term as it is the day following Thanksgiving, and it is semantically loaded with negative connotations historically rooted in superstition. The data were collected from various retailer stores in Jordan which started advertising discounted products around the last week of November of 2022. The sample was randomly collected and consisted of 115 advertisements. Further, semi-structured interviews provided complementary qualitative data. The sample was linguistically scrutinised seeking various terms used to refer to Black Friday. The main focus was on whether or not retailers in Jordan kept the phrase ‘Black Friday’ or changed it to suit the target Muslim Arab locale. The terms were classified into various categories and analysed linguistically trying to find the different factors playing roles in choosing alternative names for Black Friday. The results show that 58% of the sample retailer stores used alternative names for ‘Black Friday’ in order to appeal to the local target potential buyers whose culture neither celebrate Thanksgiving nor consider Fridays to be black or unlucky. In other words, most retailers in Jordan replaced ‘Black Friday’, which is historically loaded with negative connotations, with more positive terms, such as ‘White Friday’, ‘Blessed Friday’ and ‘Smart Friday’. The results also show that English was the dominant language in the sample advertisements as 45% appeared in English only, 25% in Arabic only and 45% in both.

Abstract Introduction/Objective Currently, there is increasing evidence that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causes men to experience more serious symptoms and have a higher mortality rate than women, but the associations between gender and age groups are still elusive. This study aimed to examine the associations with age, gender, and clinical parameters of total antibody responses against the spike protein of SARS- CoV-2 after infection in UAE population. Methods/Case Report In this study, spike protein antibody titer estimation for COVID-19 positive individuals (n = 1070) was determined. A cross-sectional study design was planned in which patients were divided into nine groups (based on their age) and further subdivided into two groups based on their genders (9 x 2). Serum was collected from the patients after 17 days of diagnosis as COVID-19 positive by RT-PCR method. Concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 Total antibody (COV2T) were measured by chemiluminescent immunoassay using ADVIA Centaur® XPT systems. We used a mixed effects model to investigate the potential associations of antibodies by bootstrapping t-tests of the putative effects of gender and age of the individuals. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) There were significant differences (P< 0.05) between males and females for SARS-CoV-2 total antibody reactivity. Total 645 (50.4%) male were found reactive compared to 425 (31.2%) female. Noteworthy, the group having middle-aged (41-50 years) participants depicted a higher antibody titer in both males and female against SARS-CoV-2. A significant decrease in titers also observed with different age groups. Highest number of reactive individuals were observed in 41-50 years age group (31%), followed by 31-40 years (27.34%), 51- 60 years (15.21%) and 21-30 years (13.04%). Same pattern of number of reactive individuals was found in male and female of different age group. Moreover, despite there being a weak significant positive association between age and total antibody titre in male patients, while there was no significant correlation between gender and age for the antibody response. Conclusion In a nutshell, total antibody (COV2T) reactivity was found significantly associated with male group and that was highest in 41-50 years age group, irrespective of the gender. These findings are crucial to treat and care for male and female patients infected with COVID-19 at hospitals.

Abstract Introduction/Objective COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has significantly impacted public health globally. Accurate and rapid detection of the infectious agent is essential for disease control and management. RT-PCR amplifies the specific targets in viral genome. The amplification signals and the cycle threshold (Ct) value gives the idea of presence of the virus and their loads. Understanding the association between Ct values, age, and gender could provide insights into the viral load and could also shed light on the potential alterations in disease transmission, severity, clinical outcomes, and dynamics among different populations and age groups. The current study aims to elaborate the correlation between Ct values of (ORF1ab, E, and N) with age and gender. Methods/Case Report 11,108 samples were tested for COVID-19 RT-PCR assay in the current study at PureLab Pure Health, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) 1009/11,108 (9.08 %) positivity was observed in the studied population. COVID- 19 was more prevalent in females (53.51%) as compared to males (46.48%). Significantly higher positivity was observed in age group (31-40 years) in both males (24.09%, 113/469) and females (24.44%, 132/540). The Ct values for all the three (03) targets were ranged from 11.37 to 39.39. Longitudinal analysis showed significant increased during the study period from starting to end as were hypothesized. Interestingly, all the three (03) targets (ORF1ab, E, and N) were present in all age groups. This may indicate the existing clade can infect all the age groups even children less than 01 years old. Conclusion In conclusion, between age groups, there was no significant difference in viral loads. In general, females had a larger viral burden than males. Studying the association between Ct values of SARS-CoV-2 genes age and gender is essential for understanding the viral load dynamics and potential variations in disease characteristics among different population groups. Such investigations could contribute to disease prognosis, risk stratification and the development of targeted interventions based on demographic characteristics. However, further research is essential to establish reliable patterns and unravel the complex interplay between viral load, gender, age, and clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients.

Distance learning is an ancient idea to impart education to the learners who wereunable to join the regular educational institutes. Revolution in information technology has changed thismode of learning to e-learning. E-learning is the mode of education in which the learners in remoteareas were educated through the use of technology. Many institutes have developed dedicated websitesand learning management systems such as open courseware, to introduce e- learning method. Theselearning management systems are very efficient, have vast learning material and communicationchannels without assistive support for physically disabled users. Lack of assistive technology supportin these websites stimulated negative user experiences. In this research work an e-learning usabilityevaluation model based on user’s mental model, had been developed. Objective of this research workwas to reduce the gap between user’s mental model and designer’s perception. The major problemwhile improving usability was a communication gap between user and designer.

Abstract Introduction/Objective Numerous SARS-CoV-2 variants/lineages have been identified based on genome sequencing. As of June 15, 2022 almost 11,399,573 whole genome sequences have been deposited in the GISAID-database. Severity and spread of COVID19 is based on their efficiency of infection and to multiply in host. That largely depend upon the structural mutation in spike, ORF and N proteins etc. That happens due to translation of genomic mutations during polypeptide synthesis. Also, the mutations are region/country specific. Specific mutation and combination of mutation causes the emergence of new strains. However, the strains can migrate from one region to other through travelers. The main objective of the current study is profiling of mutations in the genome of SARSCoV2 using Next- Generation-Sequencing (NGS) in international travelers and phylogenetic analysis of the sequences to find out different clades of SARSCoV2. Methods/Case Report A total of 557 SARSCoV2 genomes were sequenced on S4-sequencing flow-cell on NovaSeq 6000. For NGS of SARS-CoV-2 genome, Illumina, COVIDSeq kits and the protocols will be used strictly as recommended by the manufacturer. After NGS the analysis was done followed by FASTA sequences retrieval, mutations recording and phylogeny. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) This study reports 11 clades (19A, B, 20A, B, C, D, 20E; EU1, 20G, 20H; Beta V2, 20I: Alpha V1, 21D; and Eta) for the first time in international travelers. To best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the COVIDSeq approach for detection of mutation in SARSCoV2 genomic clades. The study revealed some dominants mutations was (Orf1a: P2018Q, K1053R, E176V, Orf1b: A520V, T2165A, S: D1127G, D614G, L18F etc. in other genes). Conclusion Profiling of common mutations among travelers could fill some gaps about the existence of SARS-CoV-2 variants information. However, further studies are needed to consolidate these findings before to be utilized for development of a potential therapeutic strategy.

This review focuses on the characteristics of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19)including virus structure, ecoepidemiology and pathophysiology, signs and symptoms in infectedpeople, and data on virus pathogenicity, severity, and survivability in COVID-19 infected patients. Theemphasis is on immunological reactions, diagnosis, prophylactic methods, and the zoonoticsignificance of COVID-19. The authors feel that the review's contents will be valuable toepidemiologists, virologists, public health officials, diagnosticians, laboratory workers,environmentalists, and socioeconomic experts. It has information on the many types of coronavirusvariants, the disease situation in Pakistan and the WHO criteria for COVID-19 prevention is given.Moreover, lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic are also outlined.

Collaborative governance is a concept that is considered to be able to give a big contribution in solving various problems in society, including waste management. Waste management is an urgent matter today because more than 400 thousand tons of waste is generated every year with only ten percent being recycled and the rest ends up in the ocean. Indonesia, as one of the countries with the largest population in the world, also has the largest contribution in producing plastic waste. Bali is one of the provinces in Indonesia that contributes the largest plastic waste. To answer these problems, this paper uses a qualitative approach with a library study data collection method, to analyze how collaborative governance processes proceed for a sustainable environment. The results obtained show that collaborative governance in the management of plastic waste in Bali and its legal basis have been running well but community participation and compliance are still lacking because of a common goal between actors that have not yet been formed. The high amount of plastic waste in Bali’s sea is also caused by weak law enforcement and a lack of public awareness and mutual understanding.