On the Deployment of Cognitive Relay as Underlay Systems

The objective of this paper is to extend the idea of Cognitive Relay (CR). CR, as a secondary user, follows an underlay paradigm to endorse secondary usage of the spectrum to the indoor devices. To seek a spatial opportunity, i.e., deciding its transmission over the primary user channels, CR models its deployment scenario and the movements of the primary receivers and indoor devices. Modeling is beneficial for theoretical analysis, however it is also important to ensure the performance of CR in a real scenario. We consider briefly, the challenges involved while deploying a hardware prototype of such a system.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables, accepted in Proceedings of CrownCom 2014, Oulu (Finland), June 2-4, 201

Bleeding disorders in the tribe: result of consanguineous in breeding

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To determine the frequency and clinical features of bleeding disorders in the tribe as a result of consanguineous marriages.</p> <p>Design</p> <p>Cross Sectional Study</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Countries in which consanguinity is a normal practice, these rare autosomal recessive disorders run in close families and tribes. Here we describe a family, living in village Ali Murad Chandio, District Badin, labeled as haemophilia.</p> <p>Patients & Methods</p> <p>Our team visited the village & developed the pedigree of the whole extended family, up to seven generations. Performa was filled by incorporating patients, family history of bleeding, signs & symptoms, and bleeding from any site. From them 144 individuals were screened with CBC, bleeding time, platelet aggregation studies & RiCoF. While for PT, APTT, VWF assay and Factor VIII assay, samples were kept frozen at -70 degrees C until tested.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The family tree of the seven generations comprises of 533 individuals, 63 subjects died over a period of 20 years and 470 were alive. Out of all those 144 subjects were selected on the basis of the bleeding history. Among them 98(68.1%) were diagnosed to have a bleeding disorder; 44.9% patients were male and 55.1% patients were female. Median age of all the patients was 20.81, range (4 months- 80 yrs). The results of bleeding have shown that majority had gum bleeding, epistaxis and menorrhagia. Most common bleeding disorder was Von Willebrand disease and Platelet functional disorders.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Consanguineous marriages keep all the beneficial and adversely affecting recessive genes within the family; in homozygous states. These genes express themselves and result in life threatening diseases. Awareness, education & genetic counseling will be needed to prevent the spread of such common occurrence of these bleeding disorders in the community.</p

Evaluation of internet access and utilization by medical students in Lahore, Pakistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The internet is increasingly being used worldwide in imparting medical education and improving its delivery. It has become an important tool for healthcare professionals training but the data on its use by medical students in developing countries is lacking with no study on the subject from Pakistan. This study was, therefore, carried out with an aim to evaluate the pattern of internet access and utilization by medical students in Pakistan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A structured pre-tested questionnaire was administered to a group of 750 medical students in clinical years studying at various public and private medical colleges in Lahore. The questions were related to patterns of internet access, purpose of use and self reported confidence in performing various internet related tasks, use of health related websites to supplement learning and the problems faced by students in using internet at the institution.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 532 medical students (70.9%) returned the questionnaire. The mean age of study participants was 21.04 years (SD 1.96 years). Majority of the respondents (84.0%) reported experience with internet use. About half of the students (42.1%) were using internet occasionally with 23.1%, 20.9% and 13.9% doing so frequently, regularly and rarely respectively. About two third of the students (61.0%) stated that they use internet for both academic and professional activities. Most of the participants preferred to use internet at home (70.5%). Self reported ability to search for required article from PubMed and PakMedinet was reported by only 34.0% of the entire sample. Students were moderately confident in performing various internet related tasks including downloading medical books from internet, searching internet for classification of diseases and downloading full text article. Health related websites were being accessed by 55.1% students to supplement their learning process. Lack of time, inadequate number of available computers and lack of support from staff were cited as the most common problems faced by students while accessing internet in the institution premises. There were significant differences among male and female students with respect to the place of internet use (p = 0.001) and the ability to search online databases for required articles (p = 0.014).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Majority of the medical students in this study had access to internet and were using it for both academic and personal reasons. Nevertheless, it was seen that there is under utilization of the potential of internet resources to augment learning. Increase in awareness, availability of requisite facilities and training in computing skills are required to enable better utilization of digital resources of digital resources by medical students.</p

N-(2-hydroxyphenyl)acetamide and its gold nanoparticle conjugation prevent glycerol-induced acute kidney injury by attenuating inflammation and oxidative injury in mice

The protective activity of N-(2-hydroxyphenyl)acetamide (NA-2) and NA-2-coated gold nanoparticles (NA-2-AuNPs) in glycerol-treated model of acute kidney injury (AKI) in mice was investigated. NA-2 (50 mg/kg) and NA-2-AuNPs (30 mg/kg) were given to the animals for four days followed by 24-h water deprivation and injection of 50% glycerol (10 ml/kg im). The animals were sacrificed on the next day. Blood and kidneys were collected for biochemical investigations (urea and creatinine), histological studies (hematoxylin and eosin; and periodic acid-Schiff staining), immunohistochemistry (actin and cyclooxygenase-2, Cox-2), and real-time RT-PCR (inducible nitric oxide synthase, iNOS; nuclear factor-κB p50, NFκB; hemeoxygenase-1, HO-1; and kidney injury molecule-1, Kim-1). NA-2 protected renal tubular necrosis and inflammation, though the result of NA-2-AuNPs was better than compound alone and it also exhibited the activity at far less dose. The test compound and its gold nano-formulation decreased the levels of serum urea and creatinine level in the treated animals. Both NA-2 and NA-2-AuNPs also conserved actin cytoskeleton, and lowered COX-2 protein expression. Moreover, the mRNA expressions of iNOS and NFkB p50 were down-regulated, and HO-1 and Kim-1 genes were up-regulated. We conclude that NA-2 and NA-2-AuNPs ameliorates kidney inflammation and injury in glycerol-induced AKI animal model via anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms which make it a suitable candidate for further studies. We believe that these findings will contribute in the understanding of the mechanism of action of paracetamol-like drugs and can be considered for clinical research for the prevention of AKI. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Synthesis and Characterization of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Antibacterial Applications

ZnO nanoparticles are synthesized for antibacterial applications by a simple co-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals that the synthesized ZnO has hexagonal crystal structure with mean crystallite size of 29 nm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) shows pure ZnO with uniform morphology. UV–VIS absorption spectroscopy yield an absorption edge in the range 300-400 nm which corresponds to a band gap energy of 3.50 eV. Antibacterial activity of ZnO nanoparticles is tested against gram positive and gram negative bacteria by using agar-well method. These ZnO nanoparticles are found to be strongly antimicrobial as they effectively prevent the growth of many test microorganisms with a small minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) ~ 80 – 280 µg/ml

HIV risk in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan: an emerging epidemic in injecting and commercial sex networks.

The objective of this study was to measure HIV prevalence and risk behaviour in injecting drug users (IDUs), male sex workers (MSWs), Hijras (transgenders), female sex workers (FSWs) and male truckers in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan. The design was a linked-anonymous cross-sectional study of individuals identified at key venues or through peer referral. Approximately 400 respondents in each group (200 for Hijras) responded to a standardized questionnaire and were tested for HIV antibodies at each site. In Karachi, 23% of IDUs and 4% of MSWs were HIV positive, and HIV-positive individuals were identified in all risk groups in at least one city. Two-thirds of all IDUs used a shared needle in the previous week, and unprotected commercial sex activity with men and women was high. The HIV epidemic has entered IDU and male and female commercial sex networks in Karachi and Lahore. Targeted intervention services must be scaled up and risk group surveillance intensified

Metal nanoparticles fabricated by green chemistry using natural extracts : biosynthesis, mechanisms, and applications

Nanoparticles (NPs) are new inspiring clinical targets that have emerged from persistent efforts with unique properties and diverse applications. However, the main methods currently utilized in their production are not environmentally friendly. With the aim of promoting a green approach for the synthesis of NPs, this review describes eco-friendly methods for the preparation of biogenic NPs and the known mechanisms for their biosynthesis. Natural plant extracts contain many different secondary metabolites and biomolecules, including flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, phenolic compounds and enzymes. Secondary metabolites can enable the reduction of metal ions to NPs in eco-friendly one-step synthetic processes. Moreover, the green synthesis of NPs using plant extracts often obviates the need for stabilizing and capping agents and yields biologically active shape- and size-dependent products. Herein, we review the formation of metallic NPs induced by natural extracts and list the plant extracts used in the synthesis of NPs. In addition, the use of bacterial and fungal extracts in the synthesis of NPs is highlighted, and the parameters that influence the rate of particle production, size, and morphology are discussed. Finally, the importance and uniqueness of NP-based products are illustrated, and their commercial applications in various fields are briefly featured