Papers by Muhammad Shahid
Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities, 2021
Urdu is the official language of Pakistan, while Arabic is the language of the Holy Quran, Muslim... more Urdu is the official language of Pakistan, while Arabic is the language of the Holy Quran, Muslims' sacred book. Pakistan, as a Muslim country with a religious bond, makes it obligatory for Muslims to recognize and interpret Allah's commandments, as well as to pray and recite the Holy Quran. The most effective skill is oral communication. It has become one of the fundamental language learning skills, alongside listening, reading, and writing. Pronunciation is the process of processing speech sounds to communicate. The current research study focuses on the codeswitching of bilingual preschoolers while learning the Arabic and Urdu alphabets. The study demonstrates why preschool children fail to recognize images of simple words in Arabic and Urdu at the same time and how this challenge can be tackled with the ingenuity of a committed teacher. The researcher used the Oral Proficiency Test (OPT) to assess the quality of the children's pronunciation, and he processed the data ...
Current Medical Imaging Formerly Current Medical Imaging Reviews, 2021
Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic sleeping disorder. The analysis of the pha... more Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic sleeping disorder. The analysis of the pharynx and its surrounding tissues can play a vital role in understanding the pathogenesis of OSA. Classification of the pharynx is a crucial step in the analysis of OSA. Methods: A visual analysis-based classifier is developed to classify the pharynx from MRI datasets. The classification pipeline consists of different stages, including pre-processing to select the initial candidates, extraction of categorical and numerical features to form a multidimensional features space, and a supervised classifier trained by using visual analytics and silhouette coefficient to classify the pharynx. Results: The pharynx is classified automatically and gives an approximately 86% Jaccard coefficient by evaluating the classifier on different MRI datasets. The expert’s knowledge can be utilized to select the optimal features and their corresponding weights during the training phase of the classifier. Concl...
Agronomy, 2021
Climate change exacerbates flooding problems due to hurricanes followed by heavy rains, particula... more Climate change exacerbates flooding problems due to hurricanes followed by heavy rains, particularly in sub-tropical regions. Consequently, submerged plants experience hypoxia stress which limits agronomic and horticultural crop growth and production. Hypoxia causes oxidative damage by accelerating the lipid peroxidation associated with O2- and H2O2 levels. Additionally, hypoxia increases the accumulation of organic osmoprotectants and antioxidant activity, whereas it decreases the macronutrient (N, P, K, and Zn) uptake. This study aimed at investigating the effects of flooding-induced hypoxia stress on the growth and the physiological, biochemical, and nutritional characteristics of the hydroponically grown southern highbush blueberry (cv. Jewel) plants. In addition, the hypoxia-mitigating effects of conventional silicon (Si-C) and silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) and their application methods (foliar vs. foliar and rootzone application) were also appraised. Both the Si-C and the SiNP...
International Journal of English Language Studies, 2021
The present study aims to investigate “Beseeching Verbosity used by Street Beggars” in Sargodha D... more The present study aims to investigate “Beseeching Verbosity used by Street Beggars” in Sargodha Division in Punjab, Pakistan. It is a Pragmatic Study. Beggary is a universal phenomenon. It has many blasphemous blotches on its name as a social evil, a social taboo, a social problem, a social curse. The objectives of the study were developed from the socio-pragmatic perspective. In this qualitative and theoretical study, data was collected by observation by informants. Geoffrey Leech’s Politeness Principle (1983) and Austin’s (1955) Felicity Conditions were utilized to scrutinize the beseeching language use by street beggars. The application of these theoretical frameworks will reveal the allusions and references that appeal to religious and socio-economic ideologies exploited by the street beggars by beguiling verbosity on the naïve and devoted people of the Sargodha Division. The people, knowingly or unknowingly, are tricked by the beguiling entrapment. This study revealed the tact...
Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 2020
Limited information has been reported on the genetic association of morphological and quality tra... more Limited information has been reported on the genetic association of morphological and quality traits of Oryza sativa L. From a total of 50 genotypes, evaluated for genetic diversity using SSR markers, six diverse genotypes were selected for the generation of three crosses. Progenies of these crosses were grown to develop three F2 populations. Morphological and quality traits were recorded and analysed for genotypic and phenotypic correlations followed by the path coefficient analysis from the genotypic correlation. Strongest association was observed for yield per plant and alkali spread value (ranging from-0.73 to-0.91 for different crosses). It was depicted from path coefficient analysis that length width ratio had a maximum direct effect on yield (ranging from 0.61 to 0.67 for different crosses), and also had a relatively high magnitude of the indirect effect to the yield via plant height, panicle length protein content and length width ratio. Although, minute differences were detected in the strength of association and direct/indirect effects for different populations, the direction of the association always remained the same. The present study showed that direct and indirect effects of traits should be considered for the selection of yield improvement instead of correlation, as a trait having high correlation may have a low direct effect and vice versa.
Agronomy, 2020
Plant landraces represent a repository of a gene pool, local adaptation of their domestic species... more Plant landraces represent a repository of a gene pool, local adaptation of their domestic species, and thereby are considered a great source of genetic variations. Such genetic variation can be helpful to mitigate the current and future food challenges. A total of 183 common bean accessions including three commercial varieties collected from 19 Turkish provinces were grown to record their morpho-agronomic variations and to evaluate the best performing accessions under multi-environmental conditions. Plant height, days to maturity, pods weight, seed length, and 100-seed weight were used to evaluate the best performing accessions under different environmental conditions. A wide range of variations for traits like days to maturity (99–161), plant height (21–168.7 cm), seed length (7.41–16.4 mm), seeds per plant (17.8–254.4), and 100-seeds weight (24.97–73.8 g) were observed and can be useful for breeding purposes. The analytic results derived from the first three eigenvectors suggested...
Cotton Research [Working Title], 2019
Benefits and harmful effects of Bt adoption technology are mainly related with cotton production ... more Benefits and harmful effects of Bt adoption technology are mainly related with cotton production where lot of insecticides are needed for management of arthropod herbivory and possible negative impact of crystalline Bt protein on parasitoids and predators is real. Therefore, current review information was focused that Bt should be selective for natural enemies and information was collected from different sources especially CAB abstracts as well as citations from many review articles and books. Usefulness of integrated pest management was highlighted with updated literature to cover the contents.
Cureus, Jan 10, 2018
There is a well-established association of Sjogren's syndrome with renal tubular acidosis (RT... more There is a well-established association of Sjogren's syndrome with renal tubular acidosis (RTA). Rarely there is a retrospective diagnosis where the patient presents with RTA and the workup reveals Sjogren's syndrome. Our case report is about a patient who presented with generalized weakness and hypokalemia, which upon further workup turned out to be RTA. Various tests were performed to find out the cause of RTA. A favorable profile for the anti-nuclear antibody, anti-Ro/SSA, and anti-La/SSB was consistent with Sjogren's syndrome. Treatment with corticosteroid improved hypokalemia. The patient did not have typical glandular symptoms of Sjogren's syndrome, and follow-up is needed to see whether the patient develops symptoms in the future and to prevent any possible complication.
Exopolysaccharides producing rhizobacteria and their role in plant growth and drought tolerance
Journal of basic microbiology, Jan 5, 2018
Drought stress not only effect the population and activities of microorganisms inhabiting the rhi... more Drought stress not only effect the population and activities of microorganisms inhabiting the rhizosphere but also various physiological and biochemical process in plants that is, photosynthesis, respiration, translocation, uptake of ions, carbohydrates, and nutrient metabolism. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and their exopolysaccharides (EPS) showed profound effects on plant growth and drought tolerance. Reactions of bacteria to drought stress at various organizational levels are different which depends on intensity of stress, duration, species, and growth stage. PGPR could be effectively utilized in developing strategies to facilitate water conservation strategies of plants. They have the ability to improve plant growth directly by enhancing level of phytohormones, siderophore, biofilm, and exopolysaccharides production and by increasing the nutrient availability in the rhizosphere or indirectly by protecting plants from pathogen attack. EPS producing bacteria are cap...
Bioresource technology, Jan 16, 2018
Biohydrogen as one of the most appealing energy vector for the future represents attractive avenu... more Biohydrogen as one of the most appealing energy vector for the future represents attractive avenue in alternative energy research. Recently, variety of biohydrogen production pathways has been suggested to improve the key features of the process. Nevertheless, researches are still needed to overcome remaining barriers to practical applications such as low yields and production rates. Considering practicality aspects, this review emphasized on anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) for biological hydrogen production. Recent advances and emerging issues associated with biohydrogen generation in AnMBR technology are critically discussed. Several techniques are highlighted that are aimed at overcoming these barriers. Moreover, environmental and economical potentials along with future research perspectives are addressed to drive biohydrogen technology towards practicality and economical-feasibility.
Onabotulinum toxin-A injections for sleep bruxism: A double-blind, placebo-controlled study
Neurology, Jan 17, 2018
To test the safety and efficacy of onabotulinum toxin-A (BoNT-A) injections into the masseter and... more To test the safety and efficacy of onabotulinum toxin-A (BoNT-A) injections into the masseter and temporalis muscles in patients with symptomatic sleep bruxism. Participants 18 to 85 years old with clinically diagnosed sleep bruxism confirmed by polysomnography were enrolled in this randomized, placebo-controlled, 1:1, parallel-design trial with open-label extension. Participants were injected with BoNT-A 200 units (60 into each masseter and 40 into each temporalis) or placebo and were evaluated at 4 to 8 weeks after the initial treatment visit. The primary efficacy endpoint was clinical global impression (CGI), and the secondary efficacy endpoint was a visual analog scale (VAS) of change in bruxism and in pain at 4 to 8 weeks after injection. Exploratory endpoints included modified Montreal Bruxism Questionnaire, Headache Impact Test-6, total Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Self-Rated Anxiety Scale, and polysomnography data, including EMG recordings of the...
Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine, 2016
Viral gastroenteritis and other water-borne diseases are the most neglected areas of research in ... more Viral gastroenteritis and other water-borne diseases are the most neglected areas of research in Pakistan. To determine the quality of water, 4 enteric viruses were studied from different localities of Peshawar, Pakistan. The study validates the viral detection method for Rotavirus (RV), Human adenovirus (HAdV), Enterovirus (EV) and Hepatitis A virus (HAV), directly from water sources of rural areas of Peshawar, KPK, Pakistan. Overall, 95 five water samples were tested; among them, 9.47% were positive for RV, 38.94% for HAdV, 48.42% for EV and 12.63% for HAV. The presence of these viruses in water was directly correlated with meteorological data. High prevalence of EV and HAdV was detected frequently in the wet season from May-September, which can be the potential cause of spreading of gastroenteritis in the population. Environmental surveillance is an additional tool to evaluate the epidemiology of enteric viruses circulating in a given community.
Review of lead availability and toxicity to plants in relation with metal speciation; role of synthetic and natural organic ligands
Journal of Hazardous Materials
Biogeochemical behavior of lead (Pb), a persistent hazardous pollutant of environmental concern, ... more Biogeochemical behavior of lead (Pb), a persistent hazardous pollutant of environmental concern, strongly depends on its chemical speciation. Therefore, in this review, link between Pb speciation: presence of organic ligands and its environmental behavior has been developed. Both, biogeochemical and ecotoxicological data are discussed in environmental risk assessment context and phytoremediation studies. Three kinds of organic ligands selected for this review include: (1) ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA), (2) low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs) and (3) humic substances (HSs). The review highlights the effect of Pb speciation on: (i) Pb fate and behavior in soil; (ii) Pb plant uptake and accumulation in different plant parts; and (iii) Pb-induced phyto-toxicity. Effects of organic ligands on Pb speciation are compared: how they can change Pb speciation modifying accordingly its fate and biogeochemistry in soil-plant system? EDTA forms soluble, stable and phytoavailable Pb-chelates due to high binding Pb affinity. LMWOAs can solubilize Pb in soil by decreasing soil pH or increasing soil organic contents, but have little effect on its translocation. Due to heterogeneous structure, HSs role is complex. In consequence Pb speciation knowledge is needed to discuss phyto-toxicity data and improved soil phytoremediation techniques.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Pseudococcidae: Hemiptera) is a sucking insect pest and is polyph... more Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Pseudococcidae: Hemiptera) is a sucking insect pest and is polyphagous in nature. Twenty five (25) different host plants were screened against P. solenopsis and their physicomorphic traits were determined to correlate their role against pest population. Among the tested plant species, most favorable host plants of mealy bug on the basis of population were Gossypium hirsutum (69.74±10.5), Solamum melongena (62.41±10.0), Helianthus annuus (61.83±10.0), Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (61.1±10.0) and Lantana camara (55.83±9.75), but the least preferred plants were tandla Digera arvensis (1.57±1.00) and Conyza bonariensis (3.83±1.75). Significant variations were observed in all the morphological plant characters recorded from different plant species. The maximum leaf thickness per plant was 2.04±0.23 µm in plant species S. melongena while minimum thickness of leaf was recorded from lehli (0.25±0.02 µm). Maximum trichome density per plant was 444±72.4 in sunflower ...
Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2015
OATAO is an open access repository that collects the work of Toulouse researchers and makes it fr... more OATAO is an open access repository that collects the work of Toulouse researchers and makes it freely available over the web where possible.
An Evaluation of Current Approaches to Support Test Coverage Analysis
International Conference on Computer Engineering and Technology, 3rd (ICCET 2011)
ABSTRACT Test Coverage is an important step in software testing and a good indicator of software ... more ABSTRACT Test Coverage is an important step in software testing and a good indicator of software quality. It helps in evaluating the effectiveness of testing by providing data on different coverage items. It ensures that testing is effectively carried out without missing out all the key functional areas or the features of the software under development. We have analyzed several approaches to understand the existing test coverage framework. These approaches have been classified in different categories namely instrumentation based (source code and byte code), information retrieval (latent semantic indexing), genetic algorithm and UML based. Moreover, we have compared these approaches based on some criteria such as coverage types, data base support, software traceability support, regression testing support, coverage construction and coverage re-construction techniques. We are of the opinion, although much research effort has been put on how to get coverage information by either code based testing or requirement based testing, not much has been paid to measure the coverage by combining both to get better coverage.
Frontiers of Agriculture in China, 2011
Effect of temperature and relative humidity on population dynamics of insect pests of mung bean w... more Effect of temperature and relative humidity on population dynamics of insect pests of mung bean was studied during mung bean growing season of 2005. Insect pests included thrips (Thrips tabaci Lind.) and field cricket (Gryllus assimilis) and one arachnid pest mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch). Results revealed that the maximum population of thrips and mites was observed on August 23, 2005 with 1.537±0.031 per leaf and July 6, 2005 with 3.271± 0.09 per leaf, respectively. The population of field cricket differed significantly during crop season and reached its peak during the initial stage of crop growth on June 14, 2005, i.e., 0.873±0.014 per plant at the temperature and relative humidity of 32°C and 54%, respectively, while the minimum population was noted on August, i.e., 0.710±0.010 per plant. Present studies conclusively document the correlation of weather factors and insect pest population. Temperature had a negative and significant correlation with thrips (r = -0.860) and a positive and significant correlation with mites (r = 0.606) and field cricket (r = 0.439). However, the relative humidity displayed a positive and significant correlation with thrips (r = 0.569), a negative non-significant correlation with mites (r = -0.313), and a significant negative correlation with field cricket (r = -0.770).
Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery, 2014
Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the reference standard technique for assessment and c... more Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the reference standard technique for assessment and characterization of a suspected cardiac tumour. It provides an unrestricted field of view, high temporal resolution and non-invasive tissue characterization based on multi-parametric assessment of the chemical micro-environment. Sarcomas account for around 95% of all primary malignant cardiac tumours with lymphoma, and primary pericardial mesothelioma making up most of the remainder of cases. By contrast cardiac metastases are much more common. In this article we review the MRI features of the spectrum of histologically malignant cardiac and pericardial tumours as well as some potential tumour mimics.
Virus Research, 2010
Cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) is the major limitation to cotton production across Pakistan and... more Cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) is the major limitation to cotton production across Pakistan and northwestern India. The disease first appeared in epidemic form in the 1980s and was shown to be caused by monopartite begomoviruses (seven distinct species have thus far been shown to be involved), frequently as multiple infections. Additionally, the viruses are associated with a specific satellite, the CLCuD betasatellite Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite (CLCuMB), which is responsible for the distinctive disease symptoms, and a satellite-like molecule (termed an alphasatellite), the function of which is unclear. During the late 1990s, cotton varieties with conventional resistance were introduced, alleviating losses to cotton production. However, during 2001 a resistance breaking strain of CLCuD (known as the "Burewala" strain) appeared which spread across most cotton producing areas of Pakistan. We have conducted an analysis of the Burewala strain and show that, contrary to the earlier (Multan) strain, it consists of a single begomovirus. The virus is associated with a recombinant betasatellite, derived from the Multan strain, but we were unable to detect the presence of an alphasatellite. Sequence comparisons show the virus to be a new recombinant species, consisting of sequences derived from two of the viruses associated with the first epidemic, for which we propose the name Cotton leaf curl Burewala virus (CLCuBuV). Surprisingly the virus lacks an intact C2 gene, encoding the transcriptional activator protein, which is invariably present in begomoviruses. The possible mechanisms for the selection of a "defective" begomovirus are discussed.
Carbohydrate Polymers, 2014
The aim of present work was to isolate cellulose from cotton gin waste (CGW) and synthesis of car... more The aim of present work was to isolate cellulose from cotton gin waste (CGW) and synthesis of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) from it. Scoured and bleached CGW was used to investigate the effects of temperature, reaction time, acid-base concentration on the physiology of the resultant cellulose polymer. The isolated cellulose from CGW was converted to CMC by etherification using sodium monochloroacetic acid and different sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentrations (5-40 g/100 mL) were tested to get high quality product. The optimum condition for carboxymethylation was found to be 20 g/100 mL NaOH which provided the highest viscosity and degree of substitution (DS = 0.874). Isolated cellulose and CMC were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FT-IR analysis revealed that the produced cellulose was of very good quality. Furthermore, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis spotlighted crystalline nature of cellulose. SEM images showed rough structure of cellulose while that of the CMC had a smooth surface. This optimized method will be tested at pilot scale in collaboration with local industry.
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Papers by Muhammad Shahid