Focused Ion Beam Tomography

To study the fundamental effect of shape and morphology of any material on its properties, it is very essential to know and study its morphology. Focused ion beam (FIB) tomography is a 3D chemical and structural relationship studying technique. The instrumentation of FIB looks like that of the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), but there is a major difference in the beam used for scanning. For SEM, a beam of electrons is used with scanning medium whereas in FIB, a much focused beam of ions is used for scanning. FIB can be used for lithography and ablation purposes, but due to advancements and high-energy focused beam, it is nowadays being used as a tomographic technique. Tomography is defined as imaging by sectoring or cross-sectioning any desired area. The hyphenation of FIB with energy-dispersive spectrometry or secondary ion mass spectrometry can give us elemental analysis with very high-resolution 3D images for a sample. This technique contributes to acquaintance of qualitative and quantitative analyses, 3D volume creations, and image processing. In this chapter, we will discuss the advancements in FIB instrumentation and its use as 3D imaging tool for different samples ranging from nanometer (nm)-sized materials to micrometer (μm)-sized biological samples

Prevalence and treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders among tertiary hospitals in Pakistan; findings and implications

INTRODUCTION: Mental health and neurological disorders are prevalent in Pakistan. However, there are considerable concerns with their management due to issues of access, availability of trained personnel and stigma alongside paucity of such data. Consequently, there is a need to document current treatment approaches starting with tertiary hospitals in Pakistan where patients with more severe mental and neurological disorders are typically treated. Subsequently, use the findings to help direct future policies and initiatives. METHODS: Multi-centered, cross-sectional, prospective study principally evaluating current medicine usage among patients attending tertiary hospitals in Pakistan with psychiatric and neurological disorders. In addition, possible factors contributing to the prevalence of these disorders in this population to help with future care. All 23 tertiary care hospitals in the ten major Districts in Pakistan were included, which cover 75% of the population. RESULTS: 57,664 patients were evaluated of which 35.3% were females. Both females and males had multiple brain disorders and multiple co-morbidities. Schizophrenia was the most prevalent disorder overall among both females (25.2%) and males (30.4%). A median of six medicines were prescribed per patient, with antipsychotics and antidepressants the most prescribed medicines. Clozapine was the most prescribed medicine in males (12.25%) and females (11.83%) including for psychiatric disorders, with sodium valproate the most prescribed medicine in epilepsy in males (42.44% of all anti-epileptic medicines) as well as females (46.38%). There was a greater prevalence of both disorders among the lower classes. A greater prevalence of schizophrenia was seen in patients abusing alcohol and smokers. The divorce rate was higher among the studied patients and the prevalence of depression was higher among the widowed population. CONCLUSIONS: There were concerns with the quality of prescribing including the extent of polypharmacy as well as possible overuse of clozapine especially in patients with epilepsy, both of which need addressing

Antibiotic consumption at community pharmacies : a multicenter repeated prevalence surveillance using WHO methodology

Background: Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness because of the rapid emergence of resistant bacteria. Unnecessary antimicrobial use increases antimicrobial resistance (AMR). There are currently no published data on antibiotic consumption in Pakistan at the community level. This is a concern given high levels of self-purchasing of antibiotics in Pakistan and variable knowledge regarding antibiotics and AMR among physicians and pharmacists. Objective: The objective of this repeated prevalence survey was to assess the pattern of antibiotic consumption data among different community pharmacies to provide a baseline for developing future pertinent initiatives. Methods: A multicenter repeated prevalence survey conducted among community pharmacies in Lahore, a metropolitan city with a population of approximately 10 million people, from October to December 2017 using the World Health Organization (WHO) methodology for a global program on surveillance of antimicrobial consumption. Results: The total number of defined daily doses (DDDs) dispensed per patient ranged from 0.1 to 50.0. In most cases, two DDDs per patient were dispensed from pharmacies. Co-amoxiclav was the most commonly dispensed antibiotic with a total number of DDDs at 1018.15. Co-amoxiclav was followed by ciprofloxacin with a total number of 486.6 DDDs and azithromycin with a total number of 472.66 DDDs. The least consumed antibiotics were cefadroxil, cefotaxime, amikacin, and ofloxacin, with overall consumption highest in December. Conclusion: The study indicated high antibiotic usage among community pharmacies in Lahore, Pakistan particularly broad-spectrum antibiotics, which were mostly dispensed inappropriately. The National action plan of Pakistan on AMR should be implemented by policymakers including restrictions on the dispensing of antimicrobials

Characterization of the role of the cytochrome P450 1A1 in the metabolism of aflatoxin B1 in an engineered (CRISPR-Cas9) bovine liver cell line

embargoed_20250322Abstract: Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a mycotoxin of particular concern due to its potent hepatotoxic, carcinogenic, and immunosuppressive properties, posing significant risks to human and animal health. In livestock species, exposure to AFB1-contaminated feed may induce several harmful effects, thus representing a major economic and health concern. Cytochrome P450 superfamily is responsible for most of the phase I reactions of endogenous and exogenous compounds, that mainly take place in the liver. These reactions could result in the biotransformation or the bioactivation of xenobiotics. CYP-mediated biotransformation results in less toxic metabolites than the parental compound, whereas in the case of bioactivation, the products are more toxic than the original compound. The main CYPs involved in the metabolism of AFB1 in humans are CYP1A2 and CYP3A4. Despite the susceptibility of bovine to AFB1 hepatotoxicity, little is known about AFB1-liver metabolism in cattle. Which CYPs are involved in the metabolism of AFB1 in bovine, which induce bioactivation and which induce biotransformation of AFB1, which is the mechanism involved? All of these questions are yet to be answered. We used bovine cell line BFH12 in our study. CYP1A2 is present in this cell line, but unlike humans, this CYP is not significantly expressed in bovine. This was the reason; we choose to work on CYP1A1. The CYP1A1 is a member of the cytochrome P450 enzyme superfamily, which plays a crucial role in the oxidative metabolism of various xenobiotic compounds e.g. aflatoxins in bovine species. To better understand the role of CYP1A1 in AFB1 metabolism in bovine liver, in this study, we performed the CRISPR/Cas-9 mediated knockout (KO) of CYP1A1 in BFH12 cells. We used CRISPR/Cas-9 technique to evaluate the role of CYP1A1 in AFB1 metabolism.Abstract: Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a mycotoxin of particular concern due to its potent hepatotoxic, carcinogenic, and immunosuppressive properties, posing significant risks to human and animal health. In livestock species, exposure to AFB1-contaminated feed may induce several harmful effects, thus representing a major economic and health concern. Cytochrome P450 superfamily is responsible for most of the phase I reactions of endogenous and exogenous compounds, that mainly take place in the liver. These reactions could result in the biotransformation or the bioactivation of xenobiotics. CYP-mediated biotransformation results in less toxic metabolites than the parental compound, whereas in the case of bioactivation, the products are more toxic than the original compound. The main CYPs involved in the metabolism of AFB1 in humans are CYP1A2 and CYP3A4. Despite the susceptibility of bovine to AFB1 hepatotoxicity, little is known about AFB1-liver metabolism in cattle. Which CYPs are involved in the metabolism of AFB1 in bovine, which induce bioactivation and which induce biotransformation of AFB1, which is the mechanism involved? All of these questions are yet to be answered. We used bovine cell line BFH12 in our study. CYP1A2 is present in this cell line, but unlike humans, this CYP is not significantly expressed in bovine. This was the reason; we choose to work on CYP1A1. The CYP1A1 is a member of the cytochrome P450 enzyme superfamily, which plays a crucial role in the oxidative metabolism of various xenobiotic compounds e.g. aflatoxins in bovine species. To better understand the role of CYP1A1 in AFB1 metabolism in bovine liver, in this study, we performed the CRISPR/Cas-9 mediated knockout (KO) of CYP1A1 in BFH12 cells. We used CRISPR/Cas-9 technique to evaluate the role of CYP1A1 in AFB1 metabolism

Impact Of Tariff On Income: Cross Country Analysis

The purpose of the study is to assess the significance of import tariff on the economic growth of ten countries divided into two groups; developing and developed economies. The developed countries included in the sample are Australia, Japan, Canada, Turkey and United States. The developing group of countries consists of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Thailand. The time period taken span from 1998 till 2015.The cross-country analysis included in the study ranges from the application of OLS regression methods to country wise, unit root test and long run analysis. In addition, Panel Unit Root and Panel Cointegration Tests are also performed to enhance the analysis. The test results of Unit Root Test show that the series are non-stationary at level and on taking first difference these becomes stationary. After we established that the series are integrated of order 1 we proceeded with the Johansen test of Cointegration which established the long run associations among the variables. The Panel Cointegration (Larsson et al. 2001) technique is used to establish the long run association in a panel framework. The findings show long run associations among the variables. It is however reviewed that the policy variable import tariff cannot be used standalone to bring prosperity for the country specially in developing countries. The country needs support of infrastructure enhancement, technological advancement and education in order to fully reap the benefits of protection provided to the industries

Horrors of Class System: A Marxist Critique of Mansfield’s Doll’s House

The current paper talks about the horrors of the inescapable class system that has us hooked blindly. The basic issue lies in the fact that the society we live in and grow operates on the system of class consciousness. The rich /bourgeoisie class uses and abuses the low or poor class to attain maximum benefits from them, whereas the poor or the proletariat have no choice except to be manipulated by the rich class for the cost of labor, for they know that it is the only step towards survival and it lies in manipulation. The rich class has become totally dependent on the proletariat and they know they cannot move without and out of it. As the society is designed and planned on unequal footings so, on the one hand, the rich class has found a medium to exploit the labor class but at the same time the proletariat are not allowed to interact with them and furthermore there are bleak chances of unification as the lower/labor class is itself a stigma in the eyes of the bourgeoisie

Management Of Eclampsia

Abstract Eclampsia is potentially fatal disorder of pregnancy with a significant maternal and fatal morbidity and mortality rate. The main objective of study was to evaluate, morbidity and mortality associated with eclampsia and its management. The retrospective study was carried out at ladywallingdon hospital Lahore consisting over a period of two months starting 5 July 2010 to 5 September 2010. The study comprises of 25 patients. Among 25 patients the 14(56%) were primigravida. Out of 25 patients, 11(44%) were between 21 to 25 years of age, 9(36%) were between 26 to 30 years and only 5(20%) between 31to 35yeras. Most of patients were without family history of eclampsia or hypertension. 16(64%) patients presented with antepartum, 5(20%) with intrapartum and only 4(16%) of the patients presented with postpartum eclampsia. Spontaneous vaginal delivery was the commonest mode of delivery carried out in 16(64%) patients and caesarean section was done in 9(36%) patients. Fits were controlled with diazepam infusion in 7(28%) of the patients. In rest of the 18(72%) cases MgSO4 was used as anticonvulsant drug. Out of 25 deliveries, no maternal death was observed however 5 perinatal deaths were recorded. Magnesium sulfate is the drug of choice for reducing the rate of eclampsia developing intrapartum and immediately postpartum. However an improvement in antenatal care, upgrading the neonatal facilities and early delivery by caesarean section can improve the perinatal outcome

Synthesis of Sheet Like Morphology of NiO for Sensitive and Selective Determination of Urea

An efficient and simple method has been demonstrated for the synthesis of nickel oxide nanostructures using urea as a capping agent. The nanosheet-like morphology was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, crystalline nature was studied by using the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and surface area of nanomaterial was investigated by automated sorption analyzer. Then synthesized NiO nanostructures were used to fabricate the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The electrocatalytic parameters of modified NiO/GCE electrode were investigated by using various techniques such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), square wave voltammetry (SWV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), normal pulse voltammetry (NPV) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry. Various working experimental conditions were optimized in order to attain the highest sensitivity for the determination of urea and the highest peak current 1032 μA of response were obtained at 100 μM concentration of urea. A linear calibration plot was obtained for peak current versus concentration of urea in the range of 10 μM urea to 80 μM urea with a good detection limit of 2 μM. The proposed working strategy was successfully employed for the estimation of urea in human urine samples and the obtained results are found satisfactory. The newly functional urea sensor can be exploited at large scale as an alternative analytical device beside to the other reported urea sensorsValiderad;2018;Nivå 1;2018-02-12 (andbra)</p