Frequency and Risk Factors Associated with Positive Cases of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C in 100 Dialysis Dependent Patients

The main objective of the study was to determine the frequency of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in hemodialysis dependent patients who are positive for either type of hepatitis infection.Methodology:Study was conducted for duration of five months (1st Dec 2014- 23rd April 2015) at nephrology unit of Khyber teaching hospital and kidney center of Hayat Abad medical complex. Patients who were dependent on dialysis with renal failure due to any cause were targeted for the study. All patients who were found positive for either type of hepatitis infection were included in the study. All patients who were positive with hepatitis infection before the start of dialysis and those who came for the first time for dialysis were excluded from the study.A semi structured questionnaire with both open and close ended questions was used to collect the information from the patients. Written consent was taken from all the patients prior to the data collection after explaining purpose of the study. It was a cross sectional study and non-probability convenient sampling technique was adopted for the data collection. Total of hundred patients who were positive for hepatitis were taken as sample size. Patient’s record was also thoroughly checked as an adding tool for data collection. Apart from patients some inquiry was also done from the concerned staff working on dialysis machines.Results:Results of this study show that the prevalence of hepatitis infection is more in dialysis dependent patients as compared to the general population, and that among the positive cases the frequency of hepatitis C was more than hepatitis B. Common risk factors associated with increase prevalence of hepatitis infection among hemodialysis dependent patients are frequent blood transfusion without proper screening, lack of proper sterilization of dialysis machine and environment where dialysis is carried out. Close proximity of the patients with positive cases of hepatitis positive patients, previous surgical procedures carried out, history of hepatitis infection in family and decreased immunity of the dialysis patientsConclusions:Frequent dialysis leads to increase frequency of hepatitis C as compared to hepatitis B and unsterilized environment of the area around the machine and unscreened blood transfusion are the major contributors

Synthesis and Characterization of a Carbon‐Supported Cobalt Nitride Nano‐Catalyst

Transition metal nitrides have attracted great interest among the non‐noble catalysts employed in heterogeneous catalytic processes because of their exceptional stability and catalytic potential. However, the approach for their synthesis has remained a tremendous challenge. This study presents the synthesis of Co₄N/C catalyst fabricated at 400, 600, and 800 °, symbolized as Co₄N/C‐400, Co₄N/C‐600, Co₄N/C‐800, respectively. The characterization of fabricated catalysts is carried out through various advanced analytical techniques. As prepared nano‐catalyst Co₄N/C shows remarkable catalytic efficiency in terms of low activation energy (Ea=3.038×10⁻¹ KJ mol⁻¹), fast conversion rate (Kapp=0.2884 s⁻¹), and 97.57% conversion efficiency. Moreover, it also exhibits excellent stability and reusability because of its metallic characteristics. The outstanding catalytic activity of the catalyst is the combined effect in which the Co₄N nanoparticles acted as active sites, and the carbon support doped with nitrogen provided an expressway for the transport of electrons required for catalytic reduction. Moreover, the designed catalyst is immobilized on the cellulose membrane filter support, to demonstrate the catalytic reduction of 4‐nitrophenol to 4‐aminophenol. We envision that our work would facilitate the fabrication of cobalt nitrides‐based nano‐catalysts for a wide range of industrial applications

Synthesis and Characterization of a Carbon‐Supported Cobalt Nitride Nano‐Catalyst

Transition metal nitrides have attracted great interest among the non‐noble catalysts employed in heterogeneous catalytic processes because of their exceptional stability and catalytic potential. However, the approach for their synthesis has remained a tremendous challenge. This study presents the synthesis of Co₄N/C catalyst fabricated at 400, 600, and 800 °, symbolized as Co₄N/C‐400, Co₄N/C‐600, Co₄N/C‐800, respectively. The characterization of fabricated catalysts is carried out through various advanced analytical techniques. As prepared nano‐catalyst Co₄N/C shows remarkable catalytic efficiency in terms of low activation energy (Ea=3.038×10⁻¹ KJ mol⁻¹), fast conversion rate (Kapp=0.2884 s⁻¹), and 97.57% conversion efficiency. Moreover, it also exhibits excellent stability and reusability because of its metallic characteristics. The outstanding catalytic activity of the catalyst is the combined effect in which the Co₄N nanoparticles acted as active sites, and the carbon support doped with nitrogen provided an expressway for the transport of electrons required for catalytic reduction. Moreover, the designed catalyst is immobilized on the cellulose membrane filter support, to demonstrate the catalytic reduction of 4‐nitrophenol to 4‐aminophenol. We envision that our work would facilitate the fabrication of cobalt nitrides‐based nano‐catalysts for a wide range of industrial applications

Neurological disorders and disability in Pakistan: A cross-sectional multicenter study

Background/objective: The aim of this study is to identify frequencies of various neurological disorders (NDs) and associated disability in patients attending neurologic clinics in rural and urban centers in Pakistan. Methods: This is an observational study conducted in 39 neurological centers in both rural and urban areas, public and private health sectors all over Pakistan. This study was conducted between august 2017 to December 2019. Results: A total of 28,845 adults were enrolled. Mean age of the study participants was 46.2 ± 17.2 years, 15,252 (52.9%) were men and 13,593 (47.1%) were women. Most common comorbid medical condition was hypertension 7622(26.4%) followed by Diabetes 3409(11.8%). Among neurological diagnoses, vascular diseases (20%) were the most common followed by Headache disorders (18.6%), Epilepsy (12.5%), nerve and root diseases (12.4%), Psychiatric diseases (10%), Dementias (8%) and movement disorders (7.9%). Half of the patients 15,503(53.7%) had no neurological disability, while minor disability was present in 10,442(36.2%) of cases. Moderate to severe disability was present in 2876(10%) cases. Headache disorders, psychiatric diseases, muscle pain/muscle related disorders and demyelinating diseases were more common in women. Vascular diseases, movement disorders and Dementias were more common in 46 years and above age group whereas headache disorders, Epilepsy and Psychiatric disorders were more prevalent in \u3c46 years age groups. Conclusion: Vascular diseases are the most common presentation of patients in neurology clinics followed by headache disorders and epilepsies. Minor disability was present in 36% while moderate to severe disability was present in 10% case

Extraction, Separation and Purification of Bioactive Anticancer Components from <i>Peganum harmala</i> against Six Cancer Cell Lines Using Spectroscopic Techniques

Conventional cancer treatments normally involve chemotherapy or a combination of radio- and chemotherapy. However, the adverse effects of synthetic medicines encouraged the exploration of novel therapeutic medications of a bio-friendly nature. In an effort to explore anticancer compounds from natural resources, crude extract of Peganum harmala (seeds) was fractionated on the basis of polarity, and the fractions were further tested for anticancer activity. Brine shrimp lethality assays and potato disc antitumor assays were used to test each fraction for cytotoxic and antitumor potential. The ethyl acetate fraction was found to be most potent, with LC50 and IC50 values of 34.25 µg/mL and 38.58 µg/mL, respectively. Further activity-guided fractionation led to the isolation of the bioactive compound PH-HM-10 which was identified and characterized by Mass Spectroscopy (MS), Infrared Spectroscopy (IR), Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (1HNMR), Carbon Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (13CNMR) and Heteronuclear Single Quantum Correlation (HSQC). Anticancer aspects in the isolated compound were determined against six human cancer cell lines with a maximum anticancer effect (IC50 = 36.99 µg/mL) against the tested human myeloid leukemia (HL-60) cell line, followed by the human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cell line (A549) and the breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) with an IC50 of 63.5 µg/mL and 85.9 µg/mL, respectively). The findings of the current study suggest that the isolated compound (Pegaharmine E) is significantly active against the tested cancer cell lines and can be further investigated to develop future novel anticancer chemotherapeutic agents

Comparative Study of Antimicrobial Activity of Silver, Gold, and Silver/Gold Bimetallic Nanoparticles Synthesized by Green Approach

Nanotechnology is one of the most recent technologies. It is uncertain whether the production of small-size nanoparticles (NPs) can be achieved through a simple, straightforward, and medicinally active phytochemical route. The present study aimed to develop an easy and justifiable method for the synthesis of Ag, Au, and their Ag/Au bimetallic NPs (BNPs) by using Hippeastrum hybridum (HH) extract, and then to investigate the effects of Ag, Au, and their Ag/Au BNPs as antimicrobial and phytotoxic agents. Ag, Au, and their Ag/Au BNPs were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, XRD, EDX, and SEM analysis. XRD analysis conferring to the face of face-centered cubic crystal structure with an average size of 13.3, 10.72, and 8.34 nm of Ag, Au, and Ag/Au BNPs, respectively. SEM showed that Ag, Au, and Ag/Au BNPs had spherical morphologies, with calculated nano measurements of 40, 30, and 20 nm, respectively. The EDX analysis confirmed the composition of elemental Ag signal of the HH-AgNPs with 22.75%, Au signal of the HH-AuNPs with 48.08%, Ag signal with 12%, and Au signal with 38.26% of the Ag/Au BNPs. The Ag/Au BNPs showed an excellent antimicrobial efficacy against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, Actinomycetes meriye, Bacillus cereus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Streptococcus pneumonia, and Gram-negative Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli, and Serratia marcescens bacterial strains, as well as against three fungal strains (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Aspergillus flavus) compared to HH extract, HH-AgNPs, and HH-AuNPs. However, further investigations are recommended to be able to minimize potential risks of application

Synthesis, characterization, in silico and in vitro studies of novel glycoconjugates as potential antibacterial, antifungal, and antileishmanial agents

In the present work, several new glycoconjugates (8a–e) were generated from glycopyranosyl-α-trichloroacetimidates (sugar-OTCA) as glycosyl donors and dimethyl-l-tartrate as an aglycone acceptor in good to excellent yields. In the synthetic protocol, various monosaccharides were transformed into pentaacetylated derivatives and then into glycopyranosyl-α-trichloroacetimidates. Afterward, the sugar-OTCA was reacted with dimethyl-l-tartrate using Schmidt’s trichloroacetimidate protocol to give the desired products. The newly synthesized glycoconjugates were characterized by FT-IR, 1H, and 13C-NMR spectroscopic analytical methods. All the target compounds (8a–e) were tested in vitro against various strains of bacteria and fungi at different concentrations. The results revealed that the target compounds had encouraging antibacterial and antifungal potential. The antileishmanial activity of the target compounds against Leishmania tropica promastigotes was also investigated. The in vitro results were further supported by the in silico docking study that indicated minimum values of the docking scores and binding energies for the resulting complexes obtained by the favorable interactions between the target compounds (8a–e) and the selected strains of bacteria and fungi. The docking results proposed promising antibacterial and antifungal activities of the target compounds (8a–e) against the selected bacterial and fungal species