Muhammad Iqbal

Bio: Muhammad Iqbal is an academic researcher from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. The author has contributed to research in topics: Medicine & Materials science. The author has an hindex of 77, co-authored 961 publications receiving 23821 citations. Previous affiliations of Muhammad Iqbal include Colorado School of Mines & University of Dammam.

Food security and food production systems

Abstract: Many definitions of food security exist, and these have been the subject of much debate. As early as 1992, Maxwell and Smith (1992) reviewed more than 180 items discussing concepts and definitions, and more definitions have been formulated since (DEFRA, 2006). Whereas many earlier definitions centered on food production, more recent definitions highlight access to food, in keeping with the 1996 World Food Summit definition (FAO, 1996) that food security is met when “all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” Worldwide attention on food access was given impetus by the food “price spike” in 2007–2008, triggered by a complex set of long- and short-term factors (FAO, 2009b; von Braun and Torero, 2009). FAO concluded, “provisional estimates show that, in 2007, 75 million more people were added to the total number of undernourished relative to 2003–05” (FAO, 2008); this is arguably a low-end estimate (Headey and Fan, 2010). More than enough food is currently produced per capita to feed the global population, yet about 870 million people remained hungry in the period from 2010 to 2012 (FAO et al., 2012). The questions for this chapter are how far climate and its change affect current food production systems and food security and the extent to which they will do so in the future (Figure 7-1).

The Anticancer, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Properties of the Sesquiterpene β-Caryophyllene from the Essential Oil of Aquilaria crassna

Abstract: The present study reports a bioassay-guided isolation of β-caryophyllene from the essential oil of Aquilaria crassna. The structure of β-caryophyllene was confirmed using FT-IR, NMR and MS. The antimicrobial effect of β-caryophyllene was examined using human pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains. Its anti-oxidant properties were evaluated by DPPH and FRAP scavenging assays. The cytotoxicity of β-caryophyllene was tested against seven human cancer cell lines. The corresponding selectivity index was determined by testing its cytotoxicity on normal cells. The effects of β-caryophyllene were studied on a series of in vitro antitumor-promoting assays using colon cancer cells. Results showed that β-caryophyllene demonstrated selective antibacterial activity against S. aureus (MIC 3 ± 1.0 µM) and more pronounced anti-fungal activity than kanamycin. β-Caryophyllene also displayed strong antioxidant effects. Additionally, β-caryophyllene exhibited selective anti-proliferative effects against colorectal cancer cells (IC50 19 µM). The results also showed that β-caryophyllene induces apoptosis via nuclear condensation and fragmentation pathways including disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential. Further, β-caryophyllene demonstrated potent inhibition against clonogenicity, migration, invasion and spheroid formation in colon cancer cells. These results prompt us to state that β-caryophyllene is the active principle responsible for the selective anticancer and antimicrobial activities of A. crassnia. β-Caryophyllene has great potential to be further developed as a promising chemotherapeutic agent against colorectal malignancies.

The Design and Analysis of Experiments

Abstract: THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTS. By Oscar Kempthorne. New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1952. 631 pp. $8.50. This book by a teacher of statistics (as well as a consultant for \"experimenters\") is a comprehensive study of the philosophical background for the statistical design of experiment. It is necessary to have some facility with algebraic notation and manipulation to be able to use the volume intelligently. The problems are presented from the theoretical point of view, without such practical examples as would be helpful for those not acquainted with mathematics. The mathematical justification for the techniques is given. As a somewhat advanced treatment of the design and analysis of experiments, this volume will be interesting and helpful for many who approach statistics theoretically as well as practically. With emphasis on the \"why,\" and with description given broadly, the author relates the subject matter to the general theory of statistics and to the general problem of experimental inference. MARGARET J. ROBERTSON

Human biochemical genetics

Abstract: So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to