Spatial dynamics of crop yield provide useful information for improving the production. High sensitivity of crop growth models to uncertainties in input factors and parameters and relatively coarse parameterizations i...Spatial dynamics of crop yield provide useful information for improving the production. High sensitivity of crop growth models to uncertainties in input factors and parameters and relatively coarse parameterizations in conventional remote sensing(RS) approaches limited their applications over broad regions. In this study, a process-based and remote sensing driven crop yield model for maize(PRYM–Maize) was developed to estimate regional maize yield, and it was implemented using eight data-model coupling strategies(DMCSs) over the Northeast China Plain(NECP). Simulations under eight DMCSs were validated against the prefecture-level statistics(2010–2012) reported by National Bureau of Statistics of China, and inter-compared. The 3-year averaged result could give more robust estimate than the yearly simulation for maize yield over space. A 3-year averaged validation showed that prefecture-level estimates by PRYM–Maize under DMCS8, which coupled with the development stage(DVS)-based grain-filling algorithm and RS phenology information and leaf area index(LAI), had higher correlation(R, 0.61) and smaller root mean standard error(RMSE, 1.33 t ha^(–1)) with the statistics than did PRYM–Maize under other DMCSs. The result also demonstrated that DVS-based grain-filling algorithm worked better for maize yield than did the harvest index(HI)-based method, and both RS phenology information and LAI worked for improving regional maize yield estimate. These results demonstrate that the developed PRYM–Maize under DMCS8 gives reasonable estimates for maize yield and provides scientific basis facilitating the understanding the spatial variations of maize yield over the NECP.展开更多
Lodging stress results in grain yield and quality reduction in wheat. Uniconazole, a potential plant growth regulator significantly enhances lignin biosynthesis and thus provides mechanical strength to plants in order...Lodging stress results in grain yield and quality reduction in wheat. Uniconazole, a potential plant growth regulator significantly enhances lignin biosynthesis and thus provides mechanical strength to plants in order to cope with lodging stress. A field study was conducted during the 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 growing seasons, to investigate the effects of uniconazole sole application or with micronutrient on the lignin biosynthesis, lodging resistance, and production of winter wheat. In the first experiment, uniconazole at concentrations of 0(CK), 15(US1), 30(US2), and 45(US3) mg L^-1 was applied as sole seed soaking, while in the second experiment with manganese(Mn) at concentration of 0.06 g L^-1 Mn, 0.06 g L^-1 Mn+ 15 mg L^-1 uniconazole(UMS1), 0.06 g L^-1 Mn+30 mg L^-1 uniconazole(UMS2), and 0.06 g L^-1 Mn+45 mg L^-1 uniconazole(UMS3), respectively. Uniconazole sole application or with micronutrient significantly increased the lignin content by improving the lignin-related enzyme activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, tyrosine ammonialyase, and peroxidase, ameliorating basal internode characteristics, and breaking strength. The spike length, spike diameter, spikes/plant, weight/spike, yield/spike, and grain yield increased and then decreased with uniconazole application at a higher concentration, where their maximum values were recorded with UMS2 and US2 treatments. The lignin accumulation was positively correlated with lignin-related enzyme activities and breaking strength while, negatively correlated with lodging rate. Uniconazole significantly improved the lignin biosynthesis, lodging resistance, and grain yield of winter wheat and the treatments which showed the greatest effects were uniconazole seed soaking with micronutrient at a concentration of 30 mg L^-1 and 0.06 g L^-1 , and uniconazole sole seed soaking at a concentration of 30 mg L^-1 .展开更多
Deficit irrigation is critical to global food production,particularly in arid and semi-arid regions with low precipitation.Given water shortage has threatened agricultural sustainability under the dry-land farming sys...Deficit irrigation is critical to global food production,particularly in arid and semi-arid regions with low precipitation.Given water shortage has threatened agricultural sustainability under the dry-land farming system in China,there is an urgent need to develop effective water-saving technologies.We carried out a field study under two cultivation techniques:(1) the ridge and furrow cultivation model(R);and(2) the conventional flat farming model(F),and three simulated precipitation levels(1,275 mm;2,200 mm;3,125 mm) with two deficit irrigation levels(150 and 75 mm).We demonstrated that under the ridge furrow(R) model,rainfall harvesting planting under 150 mm deficit irrigation combined with 200 mm simulated precipitation can considerably increase net photosynthesis rate(P_(n)),quantum yield of PSII(ΦPSⅡ),electron transport rate(ETR),performance index of photosynthetic PSII(F_(v)/F_(m)′),and transformation energy potential of PSII(F_(v)/F_(o)).In addition,during the jointing,anthesis and grain-filling stages,the grain and biomass yield in the R model are 18.9 and 11.1% higher than those in the flat cultivation model,respectively,primarily due to improved soil water contents.The winter wheat fluorescence parameters were significantly positively associated with the photosynthesis,biomass and wheat production.The result suggests that the R cultivation model with irrigation of 150 mm and simulated precipitation of 200 mm is an effective planting method for enhancing P_(n),biomass,wheat production,and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters in dry-land farming areas.展开更多
Studying the significant impacts on vegetation of drought due to global warming is crucial in order to understand its dynamics and interrelationships with temperature,rainfall,and normalized difference vegetation inde...Studying the significant impacts on vegetation of drought due to global warming is crucial in order to understand its dynamics and interrelationships with temperature,rainfall,and normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI).These factors are linked to excesses drought frequency and severity on the regional scale,and their effect on vegetation remains an important topic for climate change study.East Asia is very sensitive and susceptible to climate change.In this study,we examined the effect of drought on the seasonal variations of vegetation in relation to climate variability and determined which growing seasons are most vulnerable to drought risk;and then explored the spatio-temporal evolution of the trend in drought changes in East Asia from 1982 to 2019.The data were studied using a series of several drought indexes,and the data were then classified using a heat map,box and whisker plot analysis,and principal component analysis.The various drought indexes from January to August improved rapidly,except for vegetation health index(VHI)and temperature condition index(TCI).While these indices were constant in September,they increased again in October,but in December,they showed a descending trend.The seasonal and monthly analysis of the drought indexes and the heat map confirmed that the East Asian region suffered from extreme droughts in 1984,1993,2007,and 2012among the study years.The distribution of the trend in drought changes indicated that more severe drought occurred in the northwestern region than in the southeastern area of East Asia.The drought tendency slope was used to describe the changes in drought events during 1982–2019 in the study region.The correlations among monthly precipitation anomaly percentage(NAP),NDVI,TCI,vegetation condition index(VCI),temperature vegetation drought index(TVDI),and VHI indicated considerably positive correlations,while considerably negative correlations were found among the three pairs of NDVI and VHI,TVDI and VHI,and NDVI and TCI.This ecological and climatic mechanism provides a good basis for the assessment of vegetation and drought-change variations within the East Asian region.This study is a step forward in monitoring the seasonal variation of vegetation and variations in drought dynamics within the East Asian region,which will serve and contribute to the better management of vegetation,disaster risk,and drought in the East Asian region.展开更多
Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs)are an integral part of the Internet of Things(IoT)and are widely used in a plethora of applications.Typically,sensor networks operate in harsh environments where human intervention is of...Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs)are an integral part of the Internet of Things(IoT)and are widely used in a plethora of applications.Typically,sensor networks operate in harsh environments where human intervention is often restricted,which makes battery replacement for sensor nodes impractical.Node failure due to battery drainage or harsh environmental conditions poses serious challenges to the connectivity of the network.Without a connectivity restoration mechanism,node failures ultimately lead to a network partition,which affects the basic function of the sensor network.Therefore,the research community actively concentrates on addressing and solving the challenges associated with connectivity restoration in sensor networks.Since energy is a scarce resource in sensor networks,it becomes the focus of research,and researchers strive to propose new solutions that are energy efficient.The common issue that is well studied and considered is how to increase the network’s life span by solving the node failure problem and achieving efficient energy utilization.This paper introduces a Clusterbased Node Recovery(CNR)connectivity restoration mechanism based on the concept of clustering.Clustering is a well-known mechanism in sensor networks,and it is known for its energy-efficient operation and scalability.The proposed technique utilizes a distributed cluster-based approach to identify the failed nodes,while Cluster Heads(CHs)play a significant role in the restoration of connectivity.Extensive simulations were conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed technique and compare it with the existing techniques.The simulation results show that the proposed technique efficiently addresses node failure and restores connectivity by moving fewer nodes than other existing connectivity restoration mechanisms.The proposed mechanism also yields an improved field coverage as well as a lesser number of packets exchanged as compared to existing state-of-the-art mechanisms.展开更多
Node failure in Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs)is a fundamental problem because WSNs operate in hostile environments.The failure of nodes leads to network partitioning that may compromise the basic operation of the sen...Node failure in Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs)is a fundamental problem because WSNs operate in hostile environments.The failure of nodes leads to network partitioning that may compromise the basic operation of the sensor network.To deal with such situations,a rapid recovery mechanism is required for restoring inter-node connectivity.Due to the immense importance and need for a recovery mechanism,several different approaches are proposed in the literature.However,the proposed approaches have shortcomings because they do not focus on energy-efficient operation and coverage-aware mechanisms while performing connectivity restoration.Moreover,most of these approaches rely on the excessive mobility of nodes for restoration connectivity that affects both coverage and energy consumption.This paper proposes a novel technique called ECRT(Efficient Connectivity Restoration Technique).This technique is capable of restoring connectivity due to single and multiple node failures.ECRT achieves energy efficiency by transmitting a minimal number of control packets.It is also coverage-aware as it relocates minimal nodes while trying to restore connectivity.With the help of extensive simulations,it is proven that ECRT is effective in connectivity restoration for single and multiple node failures.Results also show that ECRT exchanges a much smaller number of packets than other techniques.Moreover,it also yields the least reduction in field coverage,proving its versatility for connectivity restoration.展开更多
This article has been retracted:please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal(http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor and Authors.The article wa...This article has been retracted:please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal(http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor and Authors.The article was submitted by the first author Shahzad ALI without permission from corresponding author,Dr.JIA Zhi-kuan.The editor and corresponding author requested to retract the article.Apologies are offered to the readers of the journal.展开更多
Background:Echinococcosis has a worldwide geographical distribution with endemic foci on every inhabited continent.Due to the frequent outbreaks in different parts of Pakistan in the recent past,echinococcosis is bein...Background:Echinococcosis has a worldwide geographical distribution with endemic foci on every inhabited continent.Due to the frequent outbreaks in different parts of Pakistan in the recent past,echinococcosis is being described as a neglected tropical disease and is considered one of the most neglected parasitic diseases in the country.In endemic regions,predominantly settings with limited resources,there are high numbers of echinococcosis patients,as these communities do not have access to appropriate treatment.In Pakistan,there are limited reports on echinococcosis.The disease is prevalent in human and livestock,but this has not been sufficiently explored yet.Pakistan is an agricultural country and due to the disease’s zoonotic mode of transmission,there is a dire need of future research on it.The present paper is an effort to highlight the importance of echinococcosis in Pakistan.Discussion:There is a dire need for future research on echinococcosis in Pakistan as very few investigations had been carried out on this topic thus far.The prevalence of the disease in neighbouring countries highlights that Pakistan might be at severe risk of this zoonotic infection and further supports the need for more research.In Pakistan,the majority of the population lives in rural areas with limited acess to proper hygienic/sanitary facilities.These conditions favour the outbreak of diseases such as echinococcosis.The limited available data could result in higher outbreaks in the future,and thus cause the already weak healthcare system to overburden.The country has a meagre annual budget for health,which is being spent on known infections such as polio,dengue fever and hepatic viral infections.A proper surveillance system for echinococcosis is required across the country as treatment is usually expensive,complicated and may require extensive surgery and/or prolonged drug therapy.Development of new/novel drugs and other treatment modalities receives very little,if any,attention.Prognostic awareness programmes against this infection involve deworming of the infected animals,improved food inspection and slaughterhouse hygiene,and public education campaigns.Conclusion:Future research on echinococcosis is anticipated to demonstrate whether the epidemiology,diagnosis and recombinant vaccines/antibodies relating to echinococcosis can meet the quality standards(purity,potency,safety and efficacy)defined by the World Health Organization.Research work should be carried out on the epidemiology and serodiagnosis of echinocossis in the different areas of Pakistan,which will be useful for the proper eradication of echinococcosis in this region.The health department should implement awareness-raising campaigns for the general public in order to reduce the burden of disease.展开更多
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFD0300101,and 2016YFD0300110)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41871253 and 31671585)+1 种基金the“Taishan Scholar”Project of Shandong Province,Chinathe Key Basic Research Project of Shandong Natural Science Foundation,China(ZR2017ZB0422)。
文摘Spatial dynamics of crop yield provide useful information for improving the production. High sensitivity of crop growth models to uncertainties in input factors and parameters and relatively coarse parameterizations in conventional remote sensing(RS) approaches limited their applications over broad regions. In this study, a process-based and remote sensing driven crop yield model for maize(PRYM–Maize) was developed to estimate regional maize yield, and it was implemented using eight data-model coupling strategies(DMCSs) over the Northeast China Plain(NECP). Simulations under eight DMCSs were validated against the prefecture-level statistics(2010–2012) reported by National Bureau of Statistics of China, and inter-compared. The 3-year averaged result could give more robust estimate than the yearly simulation for maize yield over space. A 3-year averaged validation showed that prefecture-level estimates by PRYM–Maize under DMCS8, which coupled with the development stage(DVS)-based grain-filling algorithm and RS phenology information and leaf area index(LAI), had higher correlation(R, 0.61) and smaller root mean standard error(RMSE, 1.33 t ha^(–1)) with the statistics than did PRYM–Maize under other DMCSs. The result also demonstrated that DVS-based grain-filling algorithm worked better for maize yield than did the harvest index(HI)-based method, and both RS phenology information and LAI worked for improving regional maize yield estimate. These results demonstrate that the developed PRYM–Maize under DMCS8 gives reasonable estimates for maize yield and provides scientific basis facilitating the understanding the spatial variations of maize yield over the NECP.
基金supported by funding from the National High-Tech R&D Program of China (2013AA102902)the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities, China (B12007)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31601257)
文摘Lodging stress results in grain yield and quality reduction in wheat. Uniconazole, a potential plant growth regulator significantly enhances lignin biosynthesis and thus provides mechanical strength to plants in order to cope with lodging stress. A field study was conducted during the 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 growing seasons, to investigate the effects of uniconazole sole application or with micronutrient on the lignin biosynthesis, lodging resistance, and production of winter wheat. In the first experiment, uniconazole at concentrations of 0(CK), 15(US1), 30(US2), and 45(US3) mg L^-1 was applied as sole seed soaking, while in the second experiment with manganese(Mn) at concentration of 0.06 g L^-1 Mn, 0.06 g L^-1 Mn+ 15 mg L^-1 uniconazole(UMS1), 0.06 g L^-1 Mn+30 mg L^-1 uniconazole(UMS2), and 0.06 g L^-1 Mn+45 mg L^-1 uniconazole(UMS3), respectively. Uniconazole sole application or with micronutrient significantly increased the lignin content by improving the lignin-related enzyme activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, tyrosine ammonialyase, and peroxidase, ameliorating basal internode characteristics, and breaking strength. The spike length, spike diameter, spikes/plant, weight/spike, yield/spike, and grain yield increased and then decreased with uniconazole application at a higher concentration, where their maximum values were recorded with UMS2 and US2 treatments. The lignin accumulation was positively correlated with lignin-related enzyme activities and breaking strength while, negatively correlated with lodging rate. Uniconazole significantly improved the lignin biosynthesis, lodging resistance, and grain yield of winter wheat and the treatments which showed the greatest effects were uniconazole seed soaking with micronutrient at a concentration of 30 mg L^-1 and 0.06 g L^-1 , and uniconazole sole seed soaking at a concentration of 30 mg L^-1 .
基金supported by the National Key Technologies R&D Program of China (2012BAD09B03)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Project Funding (2018M642614)+2 种基金the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research, China (201303104)the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (ZR2017ZB0422)the “Taishan Scholar” Project of Shandong Province, China。
文摘Deficit irrigation is critical to global food production,particularly in arid and semi-arid regions with low precipitation.Given water shortage has threatened agricultural sustainability under the dry-land farming system in China,there is an urgent need to develop effective water-saving technologies.We carried out a field study under two cultivation techniques:(1) the ridge and furrow cultivation model(R);and(2) the conventional flat farming model(F),and three simulated precipitation levels(1,275 mm;2,200 mm;3,125 mm) with two deficit irrigation levels(150 and 75 mm).We demonstrated that under the ridge furrow(R) model,rainfall harvesting planting under 150 mm deficit irrigation combined with 200 mm simulated precipitation can considerably increase net photosynthesis rate(P_(n)),quantum yield of PSII(ΦPSⅡ),electron transport rate(ETR),performance index of photosynthetic PSII(F_(v)/F_(m)′),and transformation energy potential of PSII(F_(v)/F_(o)).In addition,during the jointing,anthesis and grain-filling stages,the grain and biomass yield in the R model are 18.9 and 11.1% higher than those in the flat cultivation model,respectively,primarily due to improved soil water contents.The winter wheat fluorescence parameters were significantly positively associated with the photosynthesis,biomass and wheat production.The result suggests that the R cultivation model with irrigation of 150 mm and simulated precipitation of 200 mm is an effective planting method for enhancing P_(n),biomass,wheat production,and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters in dry-land farming areas.
基金the Basic Research Project of Zhejiang Normal University,China(ZC304022952)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funding(2018M642614)the Natural Science Foundation Youth Proj ect of S h andong Provi nce,C hina(ZR2020QF281)。
文摘Studying the significant impacts on vegetation of drought due to global warming is crucial in order to understand its dynamics and interrelationships with temperature,rainfall,and normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI).These factors are linked to excesses drought frequency and severity on the regional scale,and their effect on vegetation remains an important topic for climate change study.East Asia is very sensitive and susceptible to climate change.In this study,we examined the effect of drought on the seasonal variations of vegetation in relation to climate variability and determined which growing seasons are most vulnerable to drought risk;and then explored the spatio-temporal evolution of the trend in drought changes in East Asia from 1982 to 2019.The data were studied using a series of several drought indexes,and the data were then classified using a heat map,box and whisker plot analysis,and principal component analysis.The various drought indexes from January to August improved rapidly,except for vegetation health index(VHI)and temperature condition index(TCI).While these indices were constant in September,they increased again in October,but in December,they showed a descending trend.The seasonal and monthly analysis of the drought indexes and the heat map confirmed that the East Asian region suffered from extreme droughts in 1984,1993,2007,and 2012among the study years.The distribution of the trend in drought changes indicated that more severe drought occurred in the northwestern region than in the southeastern area of East Asia.The drought tendency slope was used to describe the changes in drought events during 1982–2019 in the study region.The correlations among monthly precipitation anomaly percentage(NAP),NDVI,TCI,vegetation condition index(VCI),temperature vegetation drought index(TVDI),and VHI indicated considerably positive correlations,while considerably negative correlations were found among the three pairs of NDVI and VHI,TVDI and VHI,and NDVI and TCI.This ecological and climatic mechanism provides a good basis for the assessment of vegetation and drought-change variations within the East Asian region.This study is a step forward in monitoring the seasonal variation of vegetation and variations in drought dynamics within the East Asian region,which will serve and contribute to the better management of vegetation,disaster risk,and drought in the East Asian region.
基金This research is funded by Najran University Saudi Arabia,under the research Project Number(NU/ESCI/17/093).URL:www.nu.edu.sa。
文摘Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs)are an integral part of the Internet of Things(IoT)and are widely used in a plethora of applications.Typically,sensor networks operate in harsh environments where human intervention is often restricted,which makes battery replacement for sensor nodes impractical.Node failure due to battery drainage or harsh environmental conditions poses serious challenges to the connectivity of the network.Without a connectivity restoration mechanism,node failures ultimately lead to a network partition,which affects the basic function of the sensor network.Therefore,the research community actively concentrates on addressing and solving the challenges associated with connectivity restoration in sensor networks.Since energy is a scarce resource in sensor networks,it becomes the focus of research,and researchers strive to propose new solutions that are energy efficient.The common issue that is well studied and considered is how to increase the network’s life span by solving the node failure problem and achieving efficient energy utilization.This paper introduces a Clusterbased Node Recovery(CNR)connectivity restoration mechanism based on the concept of clustering.Clustering is a well-known mechanism in sensor networks,and it is known for its energy-efficient operation and scalability.The proposed technique utilizes a distributed cluster-based approach to identify the failed nodes,while Cluster Heads(CHs)play a significant role in the restoration of connectivity.Extensive simulations were conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed technique and compare it with the existing techniques.The simulation results show that the proposed technique efficiently addresses node failure and restores connectivity by moving fewer nodes than other existing connectivity restoration mechanisms.The proposed mechanism also yields an improved field coverage as well as a lesser number of packets exchanged as compared to existing state-of-the-art mechanisms.
基金This research is funded by Jouf University Saudi Arabia,under the research Project Number 40/117.URL:www.ju.edu.sa.
文摘Node failure in Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs)is a fundamental problem because WSNs operate in hostile environments.The failure of nodes leads to network partitioning that may compromise the basic operation of the sensor network.To deal with such situations,a rapid recovery mechanism is required for restoring inter-node connectivity.Due to the immense importance and need for a recovery mechanism,several different approaches are proposed in the literature.However,the proposed approaches have shortcomings because they do not focus on energy-efficient operation and coverage-aware mechanisms while performing connectivity restoration.Moreover,most of these approaches rely on the excessive mobility of nodes for restoration connectivity that affects both coverage and energy consumption.This paper proposes a novel technique called ECRT(Efficient Connectivity Restoration Technique).This technique is capable of restoring connectivity due to single and multiple node failures.ECRT achieves energy efficiency by transmitting a minimal number of control packets.It is also coverage-aware as it relocates minimal nodes while trying to restore connectivity.With the help of extensive simulations,it is proven that ECRT is effective in connectivity restoration for single and multiple node failures.Results also show that ECRT exchanges a much smaller number of packets than other techniques.Moreover,it also yields the least reduction in field coverage,proving its versatility for connectivity restoration.
文摘This article has been retracted:please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal(http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor and Authors.The article was submitted by the first author Shahzad ALI without permission from corresponding author,Dr.JIA Zhi-kuan.The editor and corresponding author requested to retract the article.Apologies are offered to the readers of the journal.
基金We are very thankful to TUBITAK(2216-Research Fellowship Programme for International Researchers)for providing us with the opportunity and funding to work.
文摘Background:Echinococcosis has a worldwide geographical distribution with endemic foci on every inhabited continent.Due to the frequent outbreaks in different parts of Pakistan in the recent past,echinococcosis is being described as a neglected tropical disease and is considered one of the most neglected parasitic diseases in the country.In endemic regions,predominantly settings with limited resources,there are high numbers of echinococcosis patients,as these communities do not have access to appropriate treatment.In Pakistan,there are limited reports on echinococcosis.The disease is prevalent in human and livestock,but this has not been sufficiently explored yet.Pakistan is an agricultural country and due to the disease’s zoonotic mode of transmission,there is a dire need of future research on it.The present paper is an effort to highlight the importance of echinococcosis in Pakistan.Discussion:There is a dire need for future research on echinococcosis in Pakistan as very few investigations had been carried out on this topic thus far.The prevalence of the disease in neighbouring countries highlights that Pakistan might be at severe risk of this zoonotic infection and further supports the need for more research.In Pakistan,the majority of the population lives in rural areas with limited acess to proper hygienic/sanitary facilities.These conditions favour the outbreak of diseases such as echinococcosis.The limited available data could result in higher outbreaks in the future,and thus cause the already weak healthcare system to overburden.The country has a meagre annual budget for health,which is being spent on known infections such as polio,dengue fever and hepatic viral infections.A proper surveillance system for echinococcosis is required across the country as treatment is usually expensive,complicated and may require extensive surgery and/or prolonged drug therapy.Development of new/novel drugs and other treatment modalities receives very little,if any,attention.Prognostic awareness programmes against this infection involve deworming of the infected animals,improved food inspection and slaughterhouse hygiene,and public education campaigns.Conclusion:Future research on echinococcosis is anticipated to demonstrate whether the epidemiology,diagnosis and recombinant vaccines/antibodies relating to echinococcosis can meet the quality standards(purity,potency,safety and efficacy)defined by the World Health Organization.Research work should be carried out on the epidemiology and serodiagnosis of echinocossis in the different areas of Pakistan,which will be useful for the proper eradication of echinococcosis in this region.The health department should implement awareness-raising campaigns for the general public in order to reduce the burden of disease.
