IMPACT OF GRAVITY MODEL ON TRADE BETWEEN CHINA AND PAKISTAN: A CASE OF CPEC BETWEEN CHINA AND PAKISTAN

To find out the trade flow among different economies, the gravity model has been applied in various researches in different regions of the world. The present study has applied the Gravity model to analyze the bilateral trade patterns between China and Pakistan. The secondary panel data was collected from 2009 and 2018. The variables used in the study were Distance, Inflation, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and GDP per capita, Exchange Rate. The data was collected from the official websites of State Bank of Pakistan, the Pakistan Economic Survey, and the Pakistan Stock Exchange.  The fixed effect regression model was used for analysis. The results showed that the Distance, GDP growth, GDP per capita had an insignificant impact on the Trade Flow between China and Pakistan. The Exchange Rate and Inflation showed a positive and significant effect on trade between China and Pakistan. The results recommended that further studies should be done targeting other potential variables with different mediating and non-mediating roles. Keywords:Gravity Model Trade, CPE

Synthesis of Bi-Metallic-Sulphides/MOF-5@graphene Oxide Nanocomposites for the Removal of Hazardous Moxifloxacin

The development of new and advanced materials for various environmental and energy applications is a prerequisite for the future. In this research, the removal of hazardous moxifloxacin (MOX) is accomplished by synthesizing new hybrids of MOF-5 i.e., Ni/Mo.S2/MOF-5/GO, Ni.S2/MOF-5/GO, Mo.S2/MOF-5/GO, and Ni/Mo.S2/MOF-5 nanocomposites by using a metal-organic framework (MOF-5) and graphene oxide (GO) as a precursor. The introduction of NixMoxS2 facilitates the unique interfacial charge transfer at the heterojunction, demonstrating a significant improvement in the separation effectiveness of the photochemical electron-hole pairs. To evaluate equilibrium adsorption capacity, time, pH, and concentration of organic pollutants were used as experimental parameters. The adsorption kinetics data reveals pseudo-first-order (R2 = 0.965) kinetics when Ni/Mo.S2/MOF-5/GO photocatalyst was irradiated under light for 90 min against MOX degradation. This led to a narrow energy band gap (2.06 eV in Ni/Mo.S2/MOF-5/GO, compared to 2.30 eV in Ni/Mo.S2/MOF-5), as well as excellent photocatalytic activity in the photodegradation of moxifloxacin (MOX), listed in order: Ni/Mo.S2/MOF-5/GO (95%) > Ni.S2/MOF-5/GO (93%) > Mo.S2/MOF5/GO (90%) > Ni/Mo.S2/MOF-5 (86%) in concentrations up to 2.0 mgL−1, caused by the production of superoxide (O2•−) and hydroxide (OH•) radicals, which encouraged the effective photocatalytic activities of the heterostructure. After five successive tests demonstrating its excellent mechanical stability, the impressive recyclability results for the Ni/Mo.S2/MOF-5/GO revealed only a tiny variation in efficiency from 95% (for the first three runs) to 93% (in the fourth run) and 90% (in the fifth run). These findings show that the heterostructure of Ni/Mo.S2/MOF-5/GO is an effective heterojunction photocatalyst for the quick elimination of moxifloxacin (MOX) from aqueous media

Synthesis Pharmacological Evaluation, Molecular Docking And Cytotoxicty Studies On Some N-Substituted 5-[(4-Chlorophenoxy)Methyl]-1,3,4-Oxadiazole-2yl-2-Sulfanyl Acetamides

The framework of our systematic efforts focuses on the synthesis of N-substituted 5-[(4-chlorophenoxy) methyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2yl-2-sulfanyl acetamides. 4-Chlorophenoxyacetic acid (1) was utilized as a precursor for the synthesis of parent 1,3,4-oxadiazole moiety. Esterification of 1in the presence of catalytic amount of concentrated sulfuric acid and absolute alcohol generated ethyl 2-(4-chlorophenoxy)acetate (2) which was treated with hydrazine hydrate to yield 2-(4-chlorophenoxy)acetohydrazide (3). Ring closure reaction of 3 with carbon disulfide and alcoholic potassium hydroxide afforded [5-(4-chlorophenoxy)methyl)]-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiol (4). Finally, substitution at thiol position of 4 with electrophiles, N-substituted-2-bromoacetamides (6a-p) in polar aprotic solvent and LiH yielded various N-substituted 5-[(4-chlorophenoxy) methyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2yl-2-sulfanyl acetamides (7a-p). IR, 1H-NMR and EI-MS spectral analysis data unequivocally confirmed all the substitutions on 1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiol core. It was recognized that the synthesized derivatives are potential anti-bacterial agents against both gram negative and gram positive bacteria and moderate inhibitors of α-chymotrypsin enzyme. In vitro screening against various bacterial strains unleashed their anti-bacterial potential, especially 5-[(4-chlorophenoxy)methyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2yl-N-(3,4-dimethylphenyl)-2-sulfanyl acetamide (7o) exhibited marvelous activity when compared with standard ciprofloxacin against S.typhi (-), K.pneumonae (-) and S. aureus (+).Compounds were computationally docked with the α-chymotrypsin enzyme protein to unravel the active binding sites which displayed significant correlation with the bioactivity data. It can be envisioned that the amalgamation of 5-[(4-chlorophenoxy)methyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiol with N-substituted-2-bromoacetamides generated N-substituted 5-[(4-chlorophenoxy)methyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2yl-2-sulfanyl acetamides having tremendous antibacterial activity and moderate anti-enzymatic potential. Moreover, substitutions on the oxadiazole moiety lead to the discovery of less cytotoxic compounds as evident from the cytotoxicity data

Prospective multicentre study in intensive care units in five cities from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Impact of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) multidimensional approach on rates of central line-associated bloodstream infection

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the impact of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) Multidimensional Approach (IMA) and INICC Surveillance Online System (ISOS) on central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates in five intensive care units (ICUs) from October 2013 to September 2015. DESIGN: Prospective, before-after surveillance study of 3769 patients hospitalised in four adult ICUs and one paediatric ICU in five hospitals in five cities. During baseline, we performed outcome and process surveillance of CLABSI applying CDC/NHSN definitions. During intervention, we implemented IMA and ISOS, which included: (1) a bundle of infection prevention practice interventions; (2) education; (3) outcome surveillance; (4) process surveillance; (5) feedback on CLABSI rates and consequences; and (6) performance feedback of process surveillance. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: During baseline, 4468 central line (CL) days and 31 CLABSIs were recorded, accounting for 6.9 CLABSIs per 1000 CL-days. During intervention, 12,027 CL-days and 37 CLABSIs were recorded, accounting for 3.1 CLABSIs per 1000 CL-days. The CLABSI rate was reduced by 56% (incidence-density rate, 0.44; 95% confidence interval, 0.28–0.72; P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Implementing IMA through ISOS was associated with a significant reduction in the CLABSI rate in the ICUs of Saudi Arabia

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN