Because of his international prominence, Professor Khan has been able to gather an enviable list of experts in the field to contribute their experience with airway management in a multitude of clinical settings. The critical appraisal of the airway authored by the editor, Professor Khan, sets the stage for the important preoperative tests that may alert the clinician of the potential for a difficult airway so that appropriate plans can be made. The formidable "guest list" of authors spans the world and encompasses clinicians from Malaysia, the United States, Pakistan, India, Denmark, Singapore, Germany, Canada and Iran. What is equally remarkable is the list of topics discussed in the textbook and the varied clinical settings in which airway management is likely to pose particular and unique challenges: pediatrics; patients with cervical spine injury and those with traumatic brain injury; ambulatory surgery; patients with obstructive sleep apnea and obstetric patients. The book also addresses the latest in technological advances that can aid the clinician in diagnosing and managing the difficult airway, such as ultrasonography and also describes surgical approaches to managing the difficult airway, such as cricothyrotomy. Finally, underscoring the truly international appeal of the textbook and acknowledging the potential technological limitations of the developing world, a chapter is dedicated to the use of indigenous devices in managing the difficult airway.

Common Cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium L.) is an emerging aggressive & invasive weed in crop fields in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province of Pakistan. Among the crops, maize has been severely affected by X. strumarium in the region. In order to evaluate the competitive ability of X. strumarium in maize, field experiments were conducted at Agricultural Research Farm, KP Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan during 2006 and 2007 using a Randomized Complete Block Design with split plot arrangement, replicated three times. The main plots comprised of four varying maize densities: 5, 7.5, 10, and 12.5 plants per square meter, whereas seven contrasting densities of X. strumarium viz., 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 plants per square meter were allotted to the subplots. During both the years, the grain yield of maize was highest in control plots (maize monoculture) at density of 7.5 plants per sq m. The density of X. strumarium at 8-12 plants per sq m reduced maize yield by 40 and 43% in 2006 and 2007, respectively indicating that X. strumarium is a strong competitor in maize. However, in both the experiments, the maize yield losses were rather comparable (24-26%) at all crop densities.