Impact of cable television on lives of patients visiting a teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan

A cross sectional survey was conducted during August 2014 to October 2014, to identify the impact of cable television channels on lives of the people, in Karachi, Pakistan. Three hundred participants were selected through convenience sampling and a pre-tested structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was analyzed in SPSS version 19.0. About 15% of participants were more than 40 years. About 62% were females in the study sample. Regression analysis showed that viewing television at night impacts work performance (OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 0.81-2.37), sleep (OR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.63-1.81), family life (OR: 1.52; 95% CI: 0.89-2.60) and social life (OR: 1.38; 95% CI: 0.78-2.42). To minimize the adverse impact of the cable television it is imperative to monitor and control individual screen time, to avoid its adverse impact work performance, sleep, social life and overall health

Pathology-Based Tumour Registry Analysis of Cases of Female Genital Tract Malignancies

Objective: To study the frequency and distribution of Female genital tract (FGT) malignancies through data recouped from the tumour registry of Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi Pakistan. Study Design: Retrospective longitudinal study. Place and Duration of Study: Histopathology Department, Armed Force Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from 2009-2018 Methodology: A total of 1586 cases of malignant tumours of FGT were retrieved from the AFIP tumour registry, and data were analyzed in terms of the age of the patients' site of the tumour. It was also compared with regional and international data. Results: Thirty-seven thousand seven hundred ninety-three malignant cases were reported at AFIP from 2009-2018, out of which 1586(4.19%) were of the female genital tract. Ovarian malignancies were most frequent among FGT tumours,637(40.1%), followed by uterine tumours 519(32.6%). Carcinoma of the cervix was found in 237 cases (15%). Vulva and vaginal cases were seen in only 7.7% patients. The FGTs ranked fourth among the top ten commonest tumours in females. Conclusion: The most common malignancy of the female genital tract was ovarian cancer. Endometrial carcinoma was the second most frequent gynaecological malignancy, followed by cervical carcinoma. Ovarian malignancies were in fourth position among the top ten commonest female tumours in the current analysis as well, as in the previous analysis from AFIP

Homology modeling – a step towards vaccine development by analyzing structure of haemophilus influenza protein, transcriptional regulator H10994

Introduction: Haemophilus influenza is a type of bacterium that is non motile, gram negative and causes poisoning and infection including pneumonia,bronchitis etc. In order to study the resistivity of H.influenza protein, transcription regulator: HI0433, homology modeling is an important step to predict structure. Material and methods: Bioinformatics such as CMR, BLAST, modeller Prcheck and Prosa was carried out to find 3D structure of protein. Results and Discussion: H.influenza has 1792 proteins. Out of these, 456 hypothetical proteins were found. Homology modeling of transcriptional regulator H10994 was done it consists of 8 helices and 7 beta sheets. Ramachandran plot has shown that it consists of 95.2% particles in maximum allowed regions, 2.9 % particles in fewer allowed region, 1.4% particles in inadequate allowed region, 5% particles in disallowed region. Conclusion: By homology modeling of H. influenza, transcriptional regulator protein (HI0433), structure was designed which has provided enough information for vaccine development to control its transcription for causing disease

Magnetohydrodynamic Oscillating and Rotating Flows of Maxwell Electrically Conducting Fluids in a Porous Plane

Analytically, velocity field solutions for the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) oscillating and rotating flows of Maxwell fluids in a porous plane have been set up with the help of Laplace transform technique. A fine uniform magnetic field of strength B0 has been employed in normal direction to the angular velocity Ω of fluid flow. Expressions for the Dimensionless velocity field have been given for electrically conducing, oscillating and rotating flows in a porous plane. A couple of analytical solutions have been acquired separately for two types of oscillations i.e for sine and cosine oscillations. In addition these solutions fulfil all proposed initial and boundary conditions. Graphical illustrations are also considered to find out the steady-state time for oscillating and rotating flows as well as influence of magnetic field parameter on velocity of Maxwell fluid has observe

Coronavirus Genomes and Unique Mutations in Structural and Non-Structural Proteins in Pakistani SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variants during the Fourth Wave of the Pandemic

Genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 is imperative to explore the transmission, evolution, and also pathogenicity of viruses. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern posed a severe threat to the global public health efforts. To assess the potential consequence of these emerging variants on public health, continuous molecular epidemiology is of vital importance. The current study has been designed to investigate the major SARS-CoV-2 variants and emerging mutations in virus structural and non-structural proteins (NSP) during the fourth wave in September 2021 from the Punjab province of Pakistan. Twenty SARS-CoV-2 positive samples have been collected from major cities were subjected to next-generation sequencing. Among the 20 whole genomes (GenBank Accession SRR16294858-SRR16294877), 2 samples failed to be completely sequenced. These genome sequences harbored 207 non-synonymous mutations, among which 19 were unique to GISAID. The genome sequences were detected: Delta 21I, 21J variants (B.1.617.2). Mutation’s spike_F157del, spike_P681R, spike_T478K, spike_T19R, spike_L452R, spike_D614G, spike_G142D, spike_E156G, and spike_R158del have been detected in all samples where K1086Q, E554K, and C1250W were unique in spike protein. These genomic sequences also harbored 129 non-synonymous mutations in NSP. The most common were NSP3_P1469S (N = 17), NSP3_A488S (N = 17), NSP3_P1228L (N = 17), NSP4_V167L (N = 17), NSP4_T492I (N = 17), NSP6_T77A (N = 17), NSP14_A394V (N = 17), NSP12_G671S (N = 18), and NSP13_P77L (N = 18). The mutation, F313Y in NSP12, detected in the current study, was found in a single isolate from Belgium. Numerous other unique mutations have been detected in the virus papain-like protease (NSP3), main protease (NSP5), and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (NSP12). The most common non-synonymous mutations in the spike protein were subjected to stability analysis, exhibiting a stabilizing effect on structures. The presence of Delta variants may affect therapeutic efforts and vaccine efficacy. Continuous genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Pakistan may be useful for better management of SARS-CoV-2 infections

In-vitro investigation of graphene oxide reinforced bioactive glass ceramics composites

In graphene oxide (GO) reinforced composite materials, the uniform dispersion of GO and its interaction with matrix is highly desired for better mechanical properties. In order to achieve better interlocking and uniform microstructure, ion interaction approach has been used for the synthesis of GO and bioactive glass ceramics (BGC) composites. Oxygenated functional groups of GO played a decisive role in GO and BGC interlocking and towards the uniform homogeneity of the composite. GO-BGC composites with different GO to BGC weight ratios (0.5 to 2.0 wt.-%) were synthesized via the base-catalyzed sol-gel method and characterized by FTIR, RAMAN, SEM, TGA-DSC, and X-Ray diffraction techniques. An increase in micro-hardness was observed with the addition of GO up to 1 wt.-%, however, further loading led to a decrease in hardness. Moreover, GO-BGC composites were thermally more stable as compared to pristine GO. Bio-mineralization studies showed that composites were bioactive and GO supported the formation of the apatite layer. Furthermore, the composites were cytocompatible as was demonstrated by MTT assay using rat mesenchymal stem cells. This study can provide interesting insights into the synthesis and applications of novel composite biomedical materials

Explicating genetic architecture governing nutritional quality in pigmented rice

Rice is one of the most important staple plant foods that provide a major source of calories and nutrients for tackling the global hunger index especially in developing countries. In terms of nutritional profile, pigmented rice grains are favoured for their nutritional and health benefits. The pigmented rice varieties are rich sources of flavonoids, anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin that can be readily incorporated into diets to help address various lifestyle diseases. However, the cultivation of pigmented rice is limited due to low productivity and unfavourable cooking qualities. With the advances in genome sequencing, molecular breeding, gene expression analysis and multi-omics approaches, various attempts have been made to explore the genetic architecture of rice grain pigmentation. In this review, we have compiled the current state of knowledge of the genetic architecture and nutritional value of pigmentation in rice based upon the available experimental evidence. Future research areas that can help to deepen our understanding and help in harnessing the economic and health benefits of pigmented rice are also explored