Evaluation and In Vitro Studies of Folate PEG Biotin and other PEG Agents

Folate is a member of vitamin B family and plays an essential role in cell survival by participating in the biosynthesis of nucleic and amino acids. Receptors folic acid are frequently over expressed on epithelial cancer cells. These receptors are believed to serve as a receptor-mediated transport system of folic acid into cancer cells and cells associated with inflammation. Interesting, most normal cells in the body have lower frequency of these receptors. Based on these attributes, folate based drug delivery, imaging systems, and diagnostic systems are in several stages of development worldwide. In this current project, we have characterized the affinity of the proprietary folate PEG-biotin-fluorescein- (FPBF) conjugate synthesized by Dr. Walter Henne. We have successfully purified and characterized FPBF capture ligand using LC/MS. Further, affinity studies of FPFB towards Streptavidin coated Dynabeads was carried out utilizing fluorescein microscopy. It was demonstrated that the conjugate has site specific interaction toward the Streptavidin coated Dynabeads, a much important characteristic for the effective cancer cell capture. The inexpensive and previously produced folate probe may be substituted for the more costly and cumbersome antibody based ligands, which are typically used for this method of drug delivery system to treat cancer. This method significantly reduces false positive events associated with non-specific binding and capture of non-targeted cells (a problem associated with the aforementioned affinity capture protocols)

Why The Green Revolution Was Short Run Phenomena In The Development Process Of Pakistan: A Lesson For Future

Agriculture is the most important sector of Pakistan’s economy. It provides food and fibre, source of scarce foreign exchange earning and a market for industrial goods. In 1960s various policy measures were taken for Agriculture development. The research tries to examine various issues related to this sector. Focus of the research, however, is to analyze the role of Green Revolution in the development process of Pakistan and its short and long term impact on the economy. The paper analyzes weaknesses due to which the Green Revolution remained a shortterm phenomena. The contributing factors of Green Revolution and other supporting institutions are also discussed. The findings of this study show that the Green Revolution increased agriculture production and employment level. It also had impact on distribution of income and the social and political environment in the country. However, there were certain policy gaps due to which the impact of Green Revolution remained a short-term phenomena.

Inguinal Hernia Repair on Day Care Basis During Global COVID-19 Pandemic

  Abstract Background: COVID-19 has effected General Surgical Elective list and most of the surgical procedures are postpone. Inguinal hernia surgery can be performed under local anesthesia on day care basis in selected group of patients taking all necessary precautions for COVID-19. Patients & Methods: This prospective study was conducted at department of General Surgery Federal Hospital, Islamabad for a period of three months from 15th March 2020 to 15th June 2020. All patients were included in the study through purposive sampling and preference was given to patients elder than 50 years of age. This study included 59 adult patients with inguinal hernia who under mesh repair under local anaesthesia on day care basis. Results: A total of 59 patients were included in the study. All patients were male. The age range was from 37 to 82 years (SD=± 10.23).  30 (50.84%) patient had inguinal hernia on left side while 26 (44.06%) had hernia on right side. Mean Operative time was 35 min. Pain was chief complaint postoperatively 30 (50.8%) patients had moderate pain while 6 (10.1%) patients had severe pain in first 24 hours after surgery. Fever was present in 15 (25.42%) patients in first 24 hours. All patients were negative for COVID -19 preoperatively and after 2 weeks none of the patients develop any symptoms of COVID-19. 3 (5.08%) patients needed readmission within 24 hours for pain and some haemorrhage. There was no mortality in our study Conclusions: Inguinal Hernia Surgery under local anaesthesia on day care basis in a very good practice at this time of global pandemic of COVID-19. This is a safe and reliable strategy. Key words: Inguinal Hernia, COVID-19, Local Anaesthesia &nbsp

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns of Salmonella Species in Southern Pakistan

Introduction Typhoid fever is a major infectious disease among the pediatric population of Pakistan. With inappropriate use of antibiotics and rising trends of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extended drug-resistant (XDR) typhoid, it is becoming a public health emergency. This study evaluated the current trends in antibiotic susceptibilities to Salmonella (S) typhi and paratyphi A, B, and C in southern Pakistan. Materials and methods This cross-sectional study, conducted in the Pediatrics Department, Civil Hospital, Jamshoro from July to December 2018, included children with S. typhi and S. paratyphi A and B strains isolated from the laboratory-based culture of blood samples. Results There were 223 (81.1%) children with S. typhi and 52 (18.9%) with S. paratyphi isolates. Their mean age was 5 ± 3 years. The most common age group with S. typhi strains was two to five years (n = 102; 37.1%). Previous trials of antibiotics were taken by 162 (58.9%) children; 65 (40.1%) of these were physician-prescribed. Cefixime was most commonly taken (66.6%), followed by ciprofloxacin (33.3%). Cefixime and ceftriaxone showed 60.9% and 65.8% sensitivity, respectively. Ciprofloxacin sensitivity was seen in 50.1% S. typhi isolates. There were six (2.6%) cases of MDR typhoid and two (0.9%) cases of XDR typhoid. Conclusion Resistance to second-line antityphoid agents is increasing. Therefore, there is a need to modify prescribing behavior. The outbreak of XDR typhoid among children is an alarming public health concern for Pakistan. Widespread antibiotic stewardship programs must be conducted

General physicians\u27 perspective of sleep apnea from a developing country

To assess the knowledge of general physicians about the diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a self-administered questionnaire, containing 15 questions, was distributed to 160 doctors attending a pulmonary CME program in March 2002. After 15 minutes of response time, the questionnaires were collected. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS (Version 10.0) software. One hundred and twenty (75%) questionnaires were returned. Only 41% of responders had ever read an article about OSA and 36% had suspected it at least once in their practice. The majority (61-77%) of responders were aware of the common symptoms of OSA, but 55% did not recognize its association with hypertension. A significant number of doctors were not aware that OSA could occur in non-obese individuals (33%), women (42%) and children (39%). Only 25% of responders recognized that a history and blood tests were insufficient to make a reliable diagnosis of OSA. Half of the responders were aware of CPAP therapy for OSA, whereas 18% would have prescribed sedatives to treat sleep disturbances in OSA

An assessment of the impact of flow disruptions on mental workload and performance of surgeons during percutaneous nephrolithotomy

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of intraoperative disruptions on surgeons’ workload and performance during percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL).Materials and methods: A structured and standardized tool was used to identify disruptions and interferences that occurred during 33 PCNL procedures. The surgical steps during PCNL were divided into four phases: ureteric catheter placement (phase I), puncture and tract dilation (phase II), intra-calyceal navigation and stone fragmentation (phase III), and tube placement (phase IV). Surgeons’ workload was evaluated using a validated tool: Surgery Task Load Index (SURG-TLX), and correlated with the mean observed intraoperative disruptions. All operating team members evaluated the teamwork immediately after the procedure. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics version 22 (IBM, Armonk, NY).Results: A total of 1,897 disturbances were observed, with an average of 57.48 ± 16.36 disruptions per case. The largest number of disruptions occurred during phase III of PCNL (32.06 ± 14.12). The most common cause of the disruption was people entering or exiting the operating room (OR) (29.1 ± 10.03/case), followed by the ringing of phones or pagers (6.42 ± 2.4). The mean observed intraoperative disruptions were significantly associated with the operating surgeon’s mental workload, and it had a significant impact on all domains of surgeons’ mental workload as measured by SURG-TLX. Compared to other team members, surgeons’ assistants experienced an inferior sense of teamwork (r=-0.433; p=0.012).Conclusion: Significant intraoperative disruptions were observed during PCNL. They were observed to directly correlate with the surgeon\u27s workload and had a detrimental effect on teamwork. Improving OR dynamics by reducing unnecessary disruptions would help establish an efficient and smooth surgical work environment for safe surgical care

Multiscale Damage Modelling of Notched and Un-Notched 3D Woven Composites With Randomly Distributed Manufacturing Defects

This work proposes a stochastic multiscale computational framework for damage modelling in 3D woven composite laminates, by considering the random distribution of manufacturing-induced imperfections. The proposed method is demonstrated to be accurate, while being simple to implement and requiring modest computational resources. In this approach, a limited number of cross-sectional views obtained from micro-computed tomography (µCT) are used to obtain the stochastic distribution of two key manufacturing-induced defects, namely waviness and voids. This distribution is fed into a multiscale progressive damage model to predict the damage response of three-dimensional (3D) orthogonal woven composites. The accuracy of the proposed model was demonstrated by performing a series of finite element simulations of the un-notched and notched tensile tests (having two different hole sizes) for resin-infused thermoplastic (Elium®) 3D woven composites. Excellent correlation was achieved between experiments and the stochastic finite element simulations. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed stochastic multiscale model. The model successfully captured the stochastic nature of tensile responses (ultimate tensile strength and stiffness), damage modes (matrix damage and fibre failure), and initiation and propagation of transverse cracks in thermoplastic 3D woven composites, consistent with experimental observation. The stochastic computational framework presented in this paper can be used to guide the design and optimization of 3D textile composite structures

Why The Green Revolution Was Short Run Phenomena In The Development Process Of Pakistan: A Lesson For Future

Agriculture is the most important sector of Pakistan’s economy. It provides food and fibre, source of scarce foreign exchange earning and a market for industrial goods. In 1960s various policy measures were taken for Agriculture development. The research tries to examine various issues related to this sector. Focus of the research, however, is to analyze the role of Green Revolution in the development process of Pakistan and its short and long term impact on the economy. The paper analyzes weaknesses due to which the Green Revolution remained a shortterm phenomena. The contributing factors of Green Revolution and other supporting institutions are also discussed. The findings of this study show that the Green Revolution increased agriculture production and employment level. It also had impact on distribution of income and the social and political environment in the country. However, there were certain policy gaps due to which the impact of Green Revolution remained a short-term phenomena

Why The Green Revolution Was Short Run Phenomena In The Development Process Of Pakistan: A Lesson For Future

Agriculture is the most important sector of Pakistan’s economy. It provides food and fibre, source of scarce foreign exchange earning and a market for industrial goods. In 1960s various policy measures were taken for Agriculture development. The research tries to examine various issues related to this sector. Focus of the research, however, is to analyze the role of Green Revolution in the development process of Pakistan and its short and long term impact on the economy. The paper analyzes weaknesses due to which the Green Revolution remained a shortterm phenomena. The contributing factors of Green Revolution and other supporting institutions are also discussed. The findings of this study show that the Green Revolution increased agriculture production and employment level. It also had impact on distribution of income and the social and political environment in the country. However, there were certain policy gaps due to which the impact of Green Revolution remained a short-term phenomena