Role of gut microbiome in COVID-19: An insight into pathogenesis and therapeutic potential

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), resulted in an unprecedented global crisis. Although primarily a respiratory illness, dysregulated immune responses may lead to multi-organ dysfunction. Prior data showed that the resident microbial communities of gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts act as modulators of local and systemic inflammatory activity (the gut-lung axis). Evolving evidence now signals an alteration in the gut microbiome, brought upon either by cytokines from the infected respiratory tract or from direct infection of the gut, or both. Dysbiosis leads to a leaky gut . The intestinal permeability then allows access to bacterial products and toxins into the circulatory system and further exacerbates the systemic inflammatory response. In this review, we discuss the available data related to the role of the gut microbiome in the development and progression of COVID-19. We provide mechanistic insights into early data with a focus on immunological crosstalk and the microbiome\u27s potential as a biomarker and therapeutic target

WHEAT PHASIC DEVELOPMENT UNDER DIFFERENT SOWING WINDOWS UNDER RAINFED CLIMATE

In rainfed areas of Pakistan, erratic rainfall causes variation in sowing window of wheat starting from mid of October and extends until the end of December. The development of wheat plant is a continuity of vegetative phase, reproductive phase and the grain-filling phase. So, to determine the changes in timing of developmental events during the crop-growing season Wheat cultivar, Wafaq-2001, was planted in four sowing windows (22 October, 13 November, 4 December and 24 December) in the field area of National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad. Observations of crop phenology began at the emergence of first leaf and continued until the maturity when yield data was measured. The study revealed that environmental factors play an important role in determining the duration of each phase in the given agro-ecological conditions. The duration of these phases is strongly influenced by the changes in sowing dates. The major components of the environment that affect development are temperature and photoperiod. There are association between sowing window and the yield and also between the duration of phases and yield. So, it becomes important to be able to manipulate the duration of these phases to customize cultivars for specific environments and get the potential yield in a given environment on sustainable basis. Keywords: Wheat, phasic development,phenology, sowing window

PHYSICIAN’S PERCEPTION TOWARDS CONTEMPORARY PHARMACEUTICAL ADVERTISEMENTS IN PAKISTAN

The aim of this survey research was to study the perceptions of public and private sector physicians toward Direct to Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertisements (DTCPA) with the help of triangulated study approach. Using cluster sampling technique, the primary data was collected via adapted questionnaire and, 389 completely filled questionnaires were compiled out of 400 questionnaires distributed. Data analysis was conducted in SPSS by using descriptive statistics and t-test. Results revealed that private sector physicians are more inclined towards DTCPA; they believe that DTCPA can help to improve physician patient relationship, diagnosis and treatment plans. However, self medication and undesirable interventions from patients can increase the healthcare hazards and cost. Moreover, the public sector physician’s tendency towards DTCPA is comparatively less than private sector, even though majority of public sectors physicians have also favored the stance to achieve better healthcare outcomes

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy: Effect of H. pylori infection and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth treatment on clinical outcomes

The effect Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection and small intestinal bacterial over growth (SIBO) in minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is not well understood. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of eradication of Hp infection and SIBO treatment on MHE in patients with cirrhosis. Patients with cirrhosis were enrolled and MHE was determined by psychometric tests and critical flicker frequency analysis. Hp infection and SIBO were assessed by urea breath and Hydrogen breath tests respectively in patients with cirrhosis and in healthy volunteers. Patients with Hp infection and SIBO were given appropriate treatment. At six weeks follow-up, presence of Hp infection, SIBO and MHE status was reassessed. Ninety patients with cirrhosis and equal number of healthy controls were included. 55 (61.1%) patients in the cirrhotic group were diagnosed to have underlying MHE. Among cirrhotic group, Hp infection was present in 28 with MHE (50.9%) vs. in 15 without MHE (42.8%) (p = 0.45). Similarly, SIBO was present in 17 (30.9%) vs. 11 (31.4%) (p = 0.95) in patients with and without MHE respectively. In comparison with healthy controls, patients with cirrhosis were more frequently harboring Hp and SIBO (47.7% vs. 17.7% (p \u3c 0.001) and 31.1% vs. 4.4% (p \u3c 0.001) respectively. On follow-up, all patients showed evidence of eradication of Hp and SIBO infection. Treatment of SIBO significantly improved the state of MHE in cirrhotics, however eradication of Hp infection did not improve MHE significantly. Additionally, patients with low Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score and belonging to Child class B had significantly better improvement in MHE. A large number of patients with cirrhosis had either active Hp infection or SIBO with or without MHE, compared to healthy controls. Treatment of SIBO significantly improved MHE in patients with cirrhosis, whereas eradication of Hp did not affect the outcome of MHE in these patients

Effect of Cryogenic Trteatment on the Tensile Properties of Carbon Dual Phase Steel

The aim of this study was to evaluate tensile properties of low and medium carbon ferrite -martensite dual phase steel, and the effect cryogenic treatment at liquid nitrogen temperature (-196 ºC) on its properties. Low carbon steel (C12D) and medium carbon steels (C32D & C42D) were used in this work. For each steel grade, five groups of specimens were prepared according to the type of heat treatment. The first group was normalized, the second group was normalized and subsequently subjected to cryogenic treatment then tempered at (200 ºC) for one hour, the third group was quenched from intercritical annealing temperature of (760 ºC) to obtain dual phase (DP) steel, the fourth and fifth groups were both quenched from (760 ºC), but the forth group was subjected to cryogenic treatment and the fifth group was subjected to cryogenic then tempered at (200 ºC) for one hour. Mechanical tests were carried out which includes, tensile, hardness, as well as microscopic examination. Yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and ductility for DP were correlated to martensite volume fraction. The yield and tensile strength (σy, σu) of (DP) for the three steels, were higher than those of normalized condition, and increased after cryogenic treatment. These values, for the three steel grades, decreased after tempering at temperature 200 ºC. Tempering of (DP) steel at 200ºC for one hour, after cryogenic treatment, causes the reappearance of yielding point for steels (C12D) and (C32D) while no such a change noticed in (C42D) steel. The results have shown that hardness of (DP) increased after cryogenic treatment for the three steel grades

Is COVID-19 impacting cancer screening in Pakistan? An observational study of cancer screening test requests during the pandemic

Background: The purpose of this study is to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic affected cancer screening at a large tertiary care setting in the city of Karachi, the third largest city in the world, and to identify if there has been any decrease in cancer screening during the ongoing pandemic.Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted at the clinical chemistry laboratory at the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Karachi Pakistan. Data for test volumes was extracted from the Integrated Laboratory Management System (ILMS) for the following tumor markers: CA19 Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9), Calcitonin, Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), from 2017 to 2020. Data from January 1st, 2017 till December 31st, 2019 was recorded and compared with the test volume data from January 1st, 2020 till December 31st, 2020. Number of tests performed in the prior 3 years were compared with tests performed in 2020, specifically looking at changes during the lockdown period in 2020 (1st March - 9 th April) and compared with the same period in preceding years.Results: During the four-year period, a total of 6,530 tests were performed for CA19-9, 893 for Calcitonin, and 54,769 for PSA. Year 2019 recorded the highest volume for all 3 tests with test volumes increasing continuously from 2017 to 2019. Number of tests performed decreased throughout the year 2020 for Calcitonin and PSA, whereas volume of tests for CA19-9 only reduced during the lockdown period while increased in the non-lockdown period as compared to previous years. Highest percent decline during the 2020 lockdown period was seen for Calcitonin (-62.5%), followed by PSA (-51.8%) and CA19-9 (-19%).Conclusion: In conclusion, the amount of CA19-9, Calcitonin, and PSA tests performed in Karachi, Pakistan has drastically reduced due to the lockdown that was mandated due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It is crucial that despite an imposed lockdown, regular cancer screening must continue

A Formal Model for Smart Living Room

we are living in an era full of technology and the most powerful feature behind this technology is the communication between two or more things. We achieved globalization with the power of digital computers and their ability to communicate. The next shape of computers for interactive remote processing is internet of things or wireless sensors network and for data storage it is cloud. These tiny computers with heterogeneous characteristics are very helpful in making environment smart and interactive in different ways.  In this paper, we are proposing an Ambient Intelligence architecture for safety and energy efficiency using sensors, further we are formalizing the architecture for its accuracy and reliability. The three major sensors are smoke sensor for safety, glass break detector sensor for security, motion sensor for energy efficiency. In addition, the working of all sensors is also formalized for its correctness