DNA extraction and quantification from human saliva deposited on fruits with human bite

Background: Among important aspects of forensic science there stand recovery, preservation and analysis of stains originated by body fluid. DNA Isolated from evidence stains help to exclude an innocent suspect or to identify a perpetrator upon PCR-based typing. This study reports extraction and quantification of DNA from human saliva deposited on fruits. The research work was conducted at Department of Forensic Sciences, University of Health Sciences, Lahore and WTO laboratory of University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore.Methodology: DNA from saliva deposited on bitten fruits. DNA from 55 samples were extracted by Chelax method, Quantifiler® DNA Quantification Kit was used for quantification of the extracted samples and amplification of DNA was done in 7500 Real-Time PCR systems (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA). Total 55 samples including controls (positive and negative controls) were collected from bitten fruits by sterile swabs.Results: All sample swabs with human saliva showed result for quantification. Overall good yield of DNA quantification obtained from all fruits and no sample showed internal inhibition. No sample showed non informative or incomplete quantification which occurs due to LCN (Low copy number) or lesser quantity of DNA extracted from saliva swab.Conclusion: This study has provided with optimized protocol to isolate DNA from saliva found in very minute quantity on organic surfaces like fruits. Adaptation of this method can play a vital role in establishing new trends in human forensics practiced in Pakistan. Moreover, for future work in human forensics, this study can provide important practical basis

Prevalence of syphilis in Pakistani blood donors

Abstract Background: Blood transfusion is one among the common sources for transmission of the infectious diseases. In Pakistan, a country of population about 1.8 billions, blood required for transfusion is approximately 1.5 million bags per year. So, evaluation of the prevalence of syphilis among the blood donors by a retrospective study is important and critical to give a vivid picture of current situation for both the donors involved and medical practitioners.  Method: A questioner was administered and consent was taken before obtaining the blood sample for the syphilis serology from all the blood donors. ARCHITECT syphilis Treponema Pallidum (TP) assay was performed to detect the syphilis.Results: There were 449 (3.1%) confirmed cases found to be syphilis positive out of total 14,352 tested individuals. We found that male population is at far higher risk than female population. Out of 179 females, only 3 (1.6%) were found to be syphilis positive and out of 14173 males, 446 (3.1%) were having syphilis infection.Conclusions: We report high prevalence of syphilis in blood donors which was unexpected as in accordance with the previous studies. This calls for mandatory syphilis screening test of donor before transfusion of blood.  As this high prevalence poses a great risk to public health, we strongly suggest that there should me be more public awareness campaign to fight against this infectious disease

Introducing a New Practise in Healthcare : - A case study of the introduction of laparoscopic colon surgery in a Norwegian hospital

New health reforms and an increasing demand for quality and effectiveness have put pressure on the health care sector to offer the latest and best treatments. At the same time, many of these new treatments are so radically different from existing ones that they pose a challenge to the existing social relations and medical practises. Current research has recognized an increasing need for learning and innovation in health care to overcome boundaries impeding the diffusion of innovations. Hence there is a need to identify what challenges that may arise when introducing a new practice into health care. Consequently, the purpose of this project is to shed light on the following two research questions: 1. What challenges may one face when introducing a new clinical practice in a hospital? 2. To what extent do actors have a common interpretation of the challenges they face when introducing a new practice? To obtain research material, a case study was conducted at a surgical department in a Norwegian hospital where a new surgical technique, colon laparoscopy, was introduced. The study is based on interviews and observation of the staff. The research material obtained suggests that introducing a new practice may increase tensions between different professional groups. However, this relates to various aspects, such as the actors presumptions about the benefit of the practice, the distribution of power and the existing power relations in the organization as well as the management s degree of involvement and interest in the practice. Consequently, this study offers insights into the complex processes involved in introducing a new practice in health care organizations. The project was financed by a grant from UNIFOR trust foundation

A three orders of magnitude increase in nonlinear optical response by external electric field on Cryptand[2.2.2] (C222) based alkaline earthides

A new series of alkaline earthides based on Cryptand [2.2.2] (C222) containing nine complexes is designed by carefully placing alkali metals and alkaline earth metals inside and outside the C222 complexant, respectively i.e., M1(C222)M2 (M1 = Li, Na, K; M2 = Be, Mg, Ca). The designed complexes are reasonably stable both electronically and thermodynamically, as revealed through their vertical ionization potentials (VIPs) and interaction energies, respectively. Moreover, the true alkaline earthide nature of the complexes is confirmed through NBO and FMO analyses showing the negative charges and HOMOs over the alkaline earth metals, respectively. The further validity of true earthide characteristic is represented graphically by the spectra of partial density of states (PDOS). HOMO-LUMO gaps of the compounds are also very small (from 2.23 to 2.83 eV) when compared with pure cage's (C222) H-L gap i.e., 5.63 eV. All these features award these complexes with very small values of transition energies (ΔE) ranging from 0.68 to 2.06 eV ultimately resulting in remarkably high hyperpolarizability values up to 2.7 × 105 au (for Na+(C222)Mg−). Furthermore, applying external electric field (EEF) on the complexes enhances hyperpolarizability further. A remarkable increase of 1000 folds has been seen when hyperpolarizability of K+(C222)Ca− is calculated after EEF application i.e., from 8.79 × 104 au to 2.48 × 107 au; when subjected to 0.001 au external electric field