Frequency of Distribution and Relationship of Nail Changes and Oral Mucosal Involvement in Classical Lichen Planus (LP)

Introduction: LP is an itchy dermatosis. It is of different types with classical LP being a common type. It most commonly affects the skin of the limbs, however, it can affect the mucous membranes, genitals and nails as well. Materials and Methods: 100 patients of classical LP presenting in Dermatology OPD of Benazir Bhutto Hospital were enrolled to assess the involvement of nails and oral mucosa in the disease. Statistical Analysis was done using SPSS version 23. Results: Out of 100 patients, 70% were free from any oral mucosal or nail involvement, whereas, 7% had both oral mucosal as well as nail involvement with classical LP. 18% had oral mucosa affected but nails spared and only 5% had nails affected without oral mucous membrane involvement with the diseases. 25% had oral mucosal involvement with reticular pattern being most common type and 12% showed nail changes with longitudinal ridging being the most common. Fisher’s exact test computed a two tailed p value of 0.0093 showing a significant association of nail changes in classical LP with oral mucosal involvement. Conclusion: Classical LP is an itchy condition which most commonly affects the skin, mucous membranes and nails. However, if oral mucous membranes are involved, the risk of having nails affected by the disease is quite significant. The distribution frequency of nail and oral mucosal changes as well as their predominant subtypes associated with classical LP in South Asians is comparable with rest of the world & other types of L

Postharvesting Techniques and Maintenance of Seed Quality

Healthy seeds and grains are the demanding enterprise of the recent era for the production of high yield in the next season. The seeds must be stored for the maintenance of high-yielding crop. During storage, major losses of seeds are caused by various biological and nonbiological factors. There is a need to examine reasonable factors of these crop losses, which ultimately affect the market value and quality of the seed. The quality of seeds can be maintained by using careful postharvest handling techniques. There is need to establish the well-suited methods to assess the losses during the process and to use the best technique to minimize the loss and to ensure the quality and safety of the crop. The target is to achieve the high-quality seeds of the national and international standards that could meet the demand of the supplier. This chapter emphasizes on the aspects and postharvest techniques that are used to maintain seed quality. A comprehensive review of the better, economical, convenient, and productive methods is provided, focused on the needs of developing countries but also with relevance in more industrialized countries

Need of physical and chemical restraints: Experiences at inpatient psychiatric ward in a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan

In psychiatry, agitated / aggressive patients are often treated with de-escalation techniques. If this does not work, physical or chemical restrains are required; but in the event of resistance, seclusion is applied. We report the findings of baseline study of experiences of physical and chemical restraints in a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, where 104 files were evaluated retrospectively. The mean age of patients was 32.5 ±14.3 years with 54.8% men, while the average length of stay was 11.5 ±9.3 days. Agitation, violent behaviour, and aggression were the most common indications for restraints. In total, 94.5% of patients had both physical and chemical restraints with the latter being used as the first choice in 70 patients; whereas, 67.1% of patients\u27 families were not informed before application of restraints. The seclusion need assessment was conducted in 4.1% of patients

Antibacterial activity of phyto-mediated silver nanoparticles developed from Melia azedarach

BACKGROUNDː Nanoparticles formed by plant extracts present a good alternative of existing antibiotics to compete with the resistant strains of bacteria. Antioxidants present in plants synthesize the nanoparticles from metal salt and also cap them.METHODSː In the present study, Melia azedarach fresh leaves were extracted with water. These extracts were reduced by adding silver nitrate (AgNO3) solution separately. Plant extract in different concentration was used to develop nanoparticles with constant strength of salt solution. Color change of extracts represented the development of silver nanoparticles due to reduction of silver ions to form silver nanoparticles. Absorbance of reaction mixtures were determined by UV Vis spectrophotometry. Further antimicrobial activity of these nanoparticles was tested against Borditella pertussis and Xanthomonas axonopodis by agar well diffusion method.RESULTSː Maximum absorbance was noticed between 400-500 nm. EDX analysis proved the presence of silver ions and SEM analysis showed size and shape of nanoparticles (105 nm). Silver nanoparticles developed from water extract of M. azedarach exhibited maximum inhibition zones (25.4±0.36) and (47.2±0.25) against Borditella pertussis and Xanthomonas axonopodis respectively.CONCLUSIONSː The conclusion was established that silver nanoparticles from M. azedarach revealed enhanced antibacterial activity with comparison to pure plant extract and silver nitrate solution and can be used in different antibacterial products.</p

A rural community-based investigation to assess mHealth for family planning advice in district Multan

Background: Globally, Pakistan is the 5th populous country. To increase the use of family planning services by public private business model, Punjab Population Innovation Fund selected “Connect4fp” project implemented by International Rescue Committee organization. The purpose of this research was to determine the impact of mobile health(mHealth) advice on family planning in project area. This project was implemented in 9 Union councils of district Multan, Pakistan. The innovative idea of this project was the use of mobile phones to spread family planning knowledge among community in the form of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) as well as Short Message Service (SMS) (i.e., text messages). Methods: A cross-sectional study targeted 197 men as well as women (mostly married women of reproductive age) receiving mobile messages or recorded robocalls from the project area. The purpose was to assess their family planning knowledge and awareness by using structured Likert scale questionnaire. Secondly the viewpoint about mHealth and its effect on family planning was determined from 40 private providers and 27 Family planning Champions (who were part of the project) by telephonic interviews. Their response was quantified by using Likert scale. Descriptive statistics were calculated of the study’s main variables. The association of family planning knowledge of community members was determined to their contraceptive use by using Chi square. Results:  The results specified that 60% community members included in this study told that their family planning knowledge is increased due to this mHealth program. 36% Private providers while 75% FP Champions were agreed that family planning patients are increased due to this mHealth program. Conclusion: Mobile messages and robocalls about family planning sent in local language positively contributed to increase FP knowledge and awareness in community. This may trigger communication about family planning within couples, as a result increase use of family planning services.

Association between Time to Thrombolysis and Left Ventricular Systolic Function in Patients with St-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: Unraveling the Relationship

OBJECTIVES To determine the association between time to thrombolysis and left ventricular (LV) systolic function in patients with ST-elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). METHODOLOGY T This descriptive case series study compared the time to thrombolysis and LV systolic function of 149 STEMI patients. LV systolic function was evaluated following thrombolysis, and data were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 21.0 software. This study was conducted at the Ayub Teaching Hospital Cardiology Department in Abbottabad from August 2022 to January 2023. RESULTS The study examined how LV systolic function and symptoms in STEMI patients related to when thrombolysis was administered. The 149 patients analyzed included 28 with normal LV function, 86 with mildly impaired function, 26 with moderately impaired function, and 9 with severely impaired function. In contrast to delayed thrombolysis, which was linked to higher levels of impairment, immediate thrombolysis was correlated with a higher percentage of normal LV function. The prevalence of patients with severely compromised LV function was also higher in those who received thrombolysis within 3 to 6 hours and 9 to 12 hours. LV function was correlated with the type of myocardial infarction, with varying degrees of impairment seen in AWMI and IWMI patients. Gender had no discernible effect on LV function. CONCLUSION Improved LV function is associated with early thrombolysis within hours of STEMI symptoms, highlighting the significance of prompt intervention and minimizing wait times for better patient outcomes

Molecular characterization and transcriptome profiling of expansin genes isolated from Calotropis procera fibers

The Calotropis procera seed fibers provide an excellent model system to study the genes involved in fiber elongation, fineness and strength. Expansins constitute one of the important gene families involved in plant cell expansion and other cell wall modification processes. Four homologs of Expansin A gene i.e. CpEXPA1, CpEXPA2, CpEXPA3 and CpEXPA4 were isolated from the cDNA library obtained from fast growing Calotropis procera fibers. These homologs represented typical Expansin A family. Each of them had two conserved domains including GH45 like domain and the putative polysaccharide binding domain. The deduced amino acid sequences of the homologs indicated three conserved motifs: i) eight cysteine residues at N-terminus, ii) four tryptophan residues at C-terminus and iii) a Histidine-Phenylalanine-Aspartate motif in the center of the sequence. The presence of N-terminal signal peptide consisting of hydrophobic amino acids and a transmembrane region in all these expansin isoforms suggests their cotranslational insertion into the endoplasmic reticulum and then transportation to the cell wall by secretory pathway. The relative quantification of the four expansins in root, stem, fiber and leave tissues indicated that the transcripts of CpEXPA1, CpEXPA2, CpEXPA3 and CpEXPA4 are variably transcribed in these tissues. The lowest transcription of all the four Expansin A isoforms was observed in elongating roots indicating that root tissue might be having specific expansins other than those confined to air grown organs

Evaluation of the Impact of Iron Deficiency Anemia during Pregnancy on Hospital Admission and Utilization of Hospital Resources in Latifa Women and Children Hospital, Dubai, UAE

Introduction: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is endemic among pregnant females worldwide. Liposomal iron preparation is a novel therapy for treating IDA in pregnant females. There is a lack of research on cost-effect and comparison between various new iron preparations as liposomal and intravenous (IV) iron supplements in the international literature. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the cost-effect and maternal-fetal outcome of IDA during pregnancy in Latifa Women and Children Hospital, Dubai, UAE. Design: The study was a quasi-experimental study. Settings: Settings include tertiary-care hospital settings affiliated with academic center in UAE. Patients and Methods: A total of 226 pregnant women were inducted in the study who were controlled in terms of age, BMI, baseline hemoglobin (Hb), severity of anemia, and ferritin levels. There were 116 patients who received oral liposomal iron pyrophosphate and 110 patients received IV iron saccharate complex for 4 weeks. The overall cost-effect and maternal-fetal outcomes were compared in 2 groups. Main Outcomes Measured: The main outcomes measured the cost-effect of liposomal and IV iron therapy, and the 2 treatments were compared in terms of maternal and fetal outcomes. Result: The subjects were matched for age and body mass index and showed that the patients in the IV group were more symptomatic than those in the oral group (18.1 vs. 31.9% p value &#x3c;0.01). There was no statistically significant difference among women from different nationalities living in UAE (p value 0.079). There were 98 (84.4%) patients in the oral group and 99 (90%) patients in the IV group who achieved the desired Hb levels after 1 month of treatment (p value = 0.878). Moreover, the side effects were also comparable in both groups (1.72 vs. 1.82% p value = 0.56). The incremental cost-effect ratio for IV iron was USD 108,633/rise to desired Hb. Conclusion: Liposomal iron preparations may be cost-effective and have fewer side effects than IV iron. In terms of outcome, the maternal and fetal variables are comparable in liposomal and IV groups

Geospatial Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Variants during the Fifth Wave of COVID-19 in Punjab, Pakistan

Background: The study was conducted in the various districts of Punjab, Pakistan, to ascertain the incidence and epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in the population during the fifth wave of COVID-19.Method: A total of 9603 nasopharyngeal swab samples of suspected patients were collected from the different districts of Punjab from December 2021 to April 2022. In the BSL-3 facility, an auto-extractor (Uni-medica) was used to extract the RNA genome. Viral detection and quantification were performed using real-time reverse transcriptase PCR. Multiplex PCR was used to target different mutations of the spike protein in order to identify SARS-CoV-2 variants.Results: 711 samples were found to be positive from a total of 9603. The Omicron variant of concern (VOC) was the predominant lineage of SARS-CoV-2 circulating at the time of sampling. Ninety-one percent proportion of COVID-19 was caused by the Omicron, followed by the wild variant (3.80%) and Delta (68.11%). Men were found to have a greater Omicron prevalence (47.96%) than women (42.05%). Furthermore, compared to older individuals (32.07%) and younger kids (10.55%), adults had the higher percentage of Omicron (47.39%).Conclusion: This study brought attention to the Omicron variant's circulation in Punjab Province, Pakistan, during the COVID-19 fifth wave.Keywords: Coronavirus; Omicron; Delta; Variant of Concern; Multiplex PCR; Punjab; Pandemic