Death Penalty Suspension Approach in Pakistan with Chinese Characteristics

Since the death penalty abolition campaign started, Pakistan is lagging behind to do any substantive reforms in the penal system. The reason for retention of death penalty is rooted in the Islamic injunctions which Pakistan being Islamic Republic cannot ignore. Any contradictory provision will be declared null and void and unconstitutional as the preamble of Constitution of Pakistan 1973 expressly mention it. Keeping in mind the case of Pakistan where complete abolition seems difficult but is willing to reduce it to maximum extent. The article doing a comparative analysis of penal system of Pakistan and China, bring a suitable model that can help reduce the death penalty. Pertaining to the situation of China which is also ambitious to reduce the execution but not convinced yet to complete abolition, the Chinese model of “suspended death penalty” which is well recognized and practical to reduce the executions can serve as a good model for Pakistan to follow. The article will provide the analysis of situation of Pakistan penal system and the compatibility of Chinese model as a perfect extension for reducing the number of executions though not complete abolition. It also narrates the working mechanism of suspended death penalty of China and its effectivity regarding civilizing death penalty regime. Keywords: Death penalty, suspended death penalty, abolition, China, Pakistan penal code

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

امام ابن جارود بحیثیت ماہر فن اسماء الرجال

Imam Ibn –e- Jarood (RA) is  a prominent scholarof Hadith.Although he was a native of Nishapur but he stayed at Makkah for educational, research and teaching objectives. He presented such a valuable literature on the different aspects and fields of Hadith that cannot be ignored by the Muslim scholars. In the field of Hadith, his specialization is biographical information related to the narrators of Hadith literature. He used and explained different terms related to this specific field of study. In this scholarly and intellectual back ground, he is consideredas “Imam ofjarha-wa-tadeel”

In silico design and evaluation of novel cell targeting melittin-interleukin-24 fusion protein: a potential drug candidate against breast cancer

Fusion proteins are designed to achieve new functionality or improved properties synergistically by incorporating multiple protein domains into one complex. The fusion of two genes to translate a recombinant protein for cancer treatment can enhance the bioactivity of drug and can introduce novel drug candidate with wide range of applications in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Interleukin-24 (IL-24) is a novel cancer growth-suppressing and apoptosis inducing cytokine while melittin is a natural honeybee derived cationic polypeptide having anti-tumor activity against breast cancer cells. The current study was aimed to perform in silico design and analyses of a melittin-IL-24 fusion protein against breast cancer. The amino acid sequences of the IL-24 and melittin peptide were used to design the fusion protein via a rigid linker. Using the online softwares we predicted the secondary and tertiary structures along with physicochemical properties of the designed fusion protein. The validation and quality of the fusion protein was confirmed by Rampage and ERRAT2. The top ranked structure from I-TASSER showed 18.1KD molecular weight by ProtParam, quality factor of 94.152 by ERRAT and a valid structure by Ramachandran plot with 88.5% residues in favoured region. The docking and simulation studies were performed using ClusPro and Desmond software. The quality, validity, interaction analysis and stability of the fusion protein depicted a functional molecule. The in silico analysis finding and expression predicted value of 0.86 in E. coli on SOLUPROT tool suggest that the melittin- IL-24 fusion protein can lead to develop a potent therapeutic drug against breast cancer

ZnO-NPs embedded biodegradable thiolated bandage for postoperative surgical site infection: In vitro and in vivo evaluation.

Post-operative surgical site infections (SSI) present a serious threat and may lead to complications. Currently available dressings for SSI lack mucoadhesion, safety, efficacy and most importantly patient compliance. We aimed to address these concerns by developing a bioactive thiolated chitosan-alginate bandage embedded with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) for localized topical treatment of SSI. The FTIR, XRD, DSC and TGA of bandage confirmed the compatibility of ingredients and modifications made. The porosity, swelling index and lysozyme degradation showed good properties for wound healing and biodegradation. Moreover, in-vitro antibacterial activity showed higher bactericidal effect as compared to ZnO-NPs free bandage. In-vivo wound healing in murine model showed significant improved tissue generation and speedy wound healing as compared to positive and negative controls. Over all, thiolated bandage showed potential as an advanced therapeutic agent for treating surgical site infections, meeting the required features of an ideal surgical dressing

Polymeric nanocapsules embedded with ultra-small silver nanoclusters for synergistic pharmacology and improved oral delivery of Docetaxel

Despite of the remarkable cytotoxic and imaging potential of ultra-small metal nanoclusters, their toxicity-free and targeted delivery to cancerous cells remains a substantial challenge that hinders their clinical applications. In this study, a polymeric scaffold was first synthesized by grafting folic acid and thiol groups to chitosan (CS) for cancer cell targeting and improved gastric permeation. Furthermore, silver nanocluster (Ag NCs) were synthesized\ua0in situ, within CS scaffold by microwave irradiation and core-shell nanocapsules (NCPs) were prepared with hydrophobic docetaxel (DTX) in the core and Ag NCs embedded CS in the shell. A significant cytotoxicity synergism (~300 folds) was observed for DTX with co-delivery of Ag NCs against breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells. Following oral administration, the DTX-Ag-NCPs increased bioavailability due to enhanced drug transport across gut (9 times), circulation half-life (~6.8 times) and mean residence time (~6.7 times), as compared to the control DTX suspension. Moreover, 14 days acute oral toxicity of the DTX-Ag-NCPs was performed in mice and evaluated for changes in blood biochemistry parameters, organ to body weight index and histopathology of liver and kidney tissues that revealed no significant evidence of toxicity suggesting the safety and efficiency of the DTX-Ag-NCPs as hybrid nanocarrier for biocompatible delivery of metal nanoclusters

Anthelmintic Drug Resistance in Livestock: Current Understanding and Future Trends

Anthelmintic, ectoparasiticides (insecticides, acaricides), and antiprotozoal chemotherapeutic drugs target parasites. Chenopodium oil like alkaloids, arsenic compounds, cupric sulfate, nicotine, and cupric silicate were used to destroy nematodes. Unfortunately, these chemicals were less effective and less safe for livestock. The four major groups of broad-spectrum antinematodal compounds are macrocyclic lactones such as milbemycins/ivermectin, benzimidazole/pro-benzimidazole, tetrahydro pyrimidines such as morantel, pyrantel tartrate, and imidazothiazoles such as tetramisole and levamisole. The various factors responsible for gastrointestinal (GI) parasitism make it difficult to develop effective control measures, to the best of our knowledge. Hence, an effective strategy for the control of parasitic diseases that do not solely rely on anthelmintic therapies needs to be developed at the regional level, based on the epidemiology of the disease. This book chapter aims to elaborate on the various other ways to control parasitic diseases due to Anthelmintic drug resistance

Students' participation in collaborative research should be recognised

Letter to the editor