MICROFACIES STUDIES OF THE JURASSIC TAKATU FORMATION, WESTERN SULAIMAN FOLD-THRUST BELT, PAKISTAN

Takatu Formation is well exposed in the western Sulaiman Fold- Thrust Belt, Pakistan. It has an unconformable upper contact with Sembar Formation which is marked by oxidized surface and lower contact with Triassic Wulgai Formation. The Takatu Formation contains a wide variety of limestones, which are fine to coarse grained, palatal, lumpy, skeletal, micritic, nodular, oolitic, and intraclastic. The Takatu Formation is mainly carbonate-litho package with minor siliciclastic content interbedded as shale and marls. The petrography of limestone allowed the differentiation and demonstrated of four major and sub microfacies types. These includes, Mudstone, Wackestone, Packstone and Grainstone microfacies, which are further sub-divided into five microfacies such as, Bioclastic wackstone, Calcispheric packstone, Peloidal packstone, Ooidal grainstone, and Lithoclastic grainstone. These microfacies were compared with standard microfacies and standard zones for their possible depositional environments. On the bases of our studies, it is interpreted that Takatu Formation was deposited in diverse environment ranging from the marginal shallow shelf, upper slope and in deeper parts of the shelf

Systematic, comprehensive, evidence-based approach to identify neuroprotective interventions for motor neuron disease: using systematic reviews to inform expert consensus

Objectives: Motor neuron disease (MND) is an incurable progressive neurodegenerative disease with limited treatment options. There is a pressing need for innovation in identifying therapies to take to clinical trial. Here, we detail a systematic and structured evidence-based approach to inform consensus decision making to select the first two drugs for evaluation in Motor Neuron Disease-Systematic Multi-arm Adaptive Randomised Trial (MND-SMART: NCT04302870), an adaptive platform trial. We aim to identify and prioritise candidate drugs which have the best available evidence for efficacy, acceptable safety profiles and are feasible for evaluation within the trial protocol. Methods: We conducted a two-stage systematic review to identify potential neuroprotective interventions. First, we reviewed clinical studies in MND, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, identifying drugs described in at least one MND publication or publications in two or more other diseases. We scored and ranked drugs using a metric evaluating safety, efficacy, study size and study quality. In stage two, we reviewed efficacy of drugs in MND animal models, multicellular eukaryotic models and human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) studies. An expert panel reviewed candidate drugs over two shortlisting rounds and a final selection round, considering the systematic review findings, late breaking evidence, mechanistic plausibility, safety, tolerability and feasibility of evaluation in MND-SMART. Results: From the clinical review, we identified 595 interventions. 66 drugs met our drug/disease logic. Of these, 22 drugs with supportive clinical and preclinical evidence were shortlisted at round 1. Seven drugs proceeded to round 2. The panel reached a consensus to evaluate memantine and trazodone as the first two arms of MND-SMART. Discussion: For future drug selection, we will incorporate automation tools, text-mining and machine learning techniques to the systematic reviews and consider data generated from other domains, including high-throughput phenotypic screening of human iPSCs

Global disparities in surgeons’ workloads, academic engagement and rest periods: the on-calL shIft fOr geNEral SurgeonS (LIONESS) study

: The workload of general surgeons is multifaceted, encompassing not only surgical procedures but also a myriad of other responsibilities. From April to May 2023, we conducted a CHERRIES-compliant internet-based survey analyzing clinical practice, academic engagement, and post-on-call rest. The questionnaire featured six sections with 35 questions. Statistical analysis used Chi-square tests, ANOVA, and logistic regression (SPSS® v. 28). The survey received a total of 1.046 responses (65.4%). Over 78.0% of responders came from Europe, 65.1% came from a general surgery unit; 92.8% of European and 87.5% of North American respondents were involved in research, compared to 71.7% in Africa. Europe led in publishing research studies (6.6 ± 8.6 yearly). Teaching involvement was high in North America (100%) and Africa (91.7%). Surgeons reported an average of 6.7 ± 4.9 on-call shifts per month, with European and North American surgeons experiencing 6.5 ± 4.9 and 7.8 ± 4.1 on-calls monthly, respectively. African surgeons had the highest on-call frequency (8.7 ± 6.1). Post-on-call, only 35.1% of respondents received a day off. Europeans were most likely (40%) to have a day off, while African surgeons were least likely (6.7%). On the adjusted multivariable analysis HDI (Human Development Index) (aOR 1.993) hospital capacity > 400 beds (aOR 2.423), working in a specialty surgery unit (aOR 2.087), and making the on-call in-house (aOR 5.446), significantly predicted the likelihood of having a day off after an on-call shift. Our study revealed critical insights into the disparities in workload, access to research, and professional opportunities for surgeons across different continents, underscored by the HDI

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Study the Effect of Animal Manure, Nitrogen and Phosphorus on Growth, Yield and Yield Components Traits of Mungbean

The field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of different fertilizers sources such as animal manure (AM), Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) fertilizers on growth, yield and yield components of Mungbean (Vigna radiate L.) during 2019 The applied levels of mentioned sources were (0, 30 ton ha­1), (0, 25 & 50 N kg ha-1) and 0, 50 & 70 P kg­ ha­-1) respectively. The experiment was laid out at the research farm of, Badghis University in factorial split-plot design (SPD) with 3 replications. Each replication consisted of (18) plots with (2m x 2m) size. Animal manure was applied to the main plots while, N and P fertilizers were applied to the subplots of the experiment. The results revealed that, animal manure significantly affected all characteristics of Mungbean except total dry matter, yield, and harvest index. The Interactive effect of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers was found significant for all characteristics of Mungbean, while the interactive effect of AM x N and AM x P was found non-significant for recorded parameters

Data & Code

Data and code in attached GitHub repository for the experiment presented in Stage 1 registered repor

The validity of line bisection as a measure of non-lateralised attention

The OSF page for a Stage 1 Registered Report (submitted to QJEP) that includes data and code for the manipulation stage and will provide a repository for data and code for the pre-registered experimen

Manipulation Check

Stimulus code, data and analysis code for the Manipulation Check stage of the registered repor