Screening for cystic fibrosis: The importance of using the correct tools

Background: Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a potentially lethal genetic disorder. The most frequent mutation worldwide in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene is designated as the Delta F508 mutation. This mutation was found in only 33% of Pakistani patients studied. Since the common Pakistani mutations remain to be identified, appropriate screening tools are required to identify disease. Sweat chloride determinations remain the gold standard for diagnosing CF. This study was done to emphasize the importance of using the correct tests.Methods: The study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital. The CFTR delta F508 mutation was tested on blood samples from patients suspected with CF. Sweat chloride analysis using pilocarpine iontopharesis was done with a positive value of greater than 60 meq/L.Results: 57 pediatric samples were screened for the delta F508 mutation and were positive in only 10.6% of all patients tested. 12/57 (21%) had a preliminary sweat test. 6/12 (50%) of these patients had an abnormal sweat test and 3/6 patients with an abnormal sweat chloride (50%) had deltaF508 mutations-- 2/6 (33%) were homozygotes and 1 was a compound heterozygote. Since 79% did not have a sweat test, it was difficult to assess whether this subset of patients had cystic fibrosis with a CFTR mutation other than the delta F508 tested or no CF.Conclusion: Sweat chloride analysis is critical to distinguish CF from other causes of severe pulmonary and pancreatic insufficiencies and to define patients requiring further analysis

Methylene Blue and Lugol’s Iodine as an Adjunctive Tool for Early Diagnosis of Premalignant Oral Lesions

Objective: To compare Methylene blue and Lugol’s Iodine as6an adjunctive tool6for early diagnosis of premalignant oral6lesions by taking histopathology as gold standard. Methods: In this cross-sectional study patients of oral0premalignant lesions were selected. Methylene blue and lugols iodine staining was used at lesion’s area. Mucosa0of target site was dried gently by gauze0and power0air0spray with triple syringe to make sure that the0lesion is not0being contaminated with0saliva. The dye was applied directly with a cotton0bud for 10-20 seconds and was decolorized. The dye retention pattern was evaluated by stain retention’s intensity on the lesion. Incisional biopsy was performed simultaneously from that site as gold standard. Results: Out of 60 cases, males were 81.6%. Majority (65.0%) had more than one addicting habit of mainpuri, gutka and supari. The commonest region of oral lesions was the buccal6mucosa (61.6%). According to the diagnostic accuracy of methylene blue the sensitivity was 89.4% and specificity was 66.6%. According to the Lugol’s Iodine sensitivity was 83.3% and specificity was 50%. Conclusion: Methylene blue and lugols iodine staining are an easy and non-invasive screening tools for the early diagnosis of malignancy

Misconceptions Regarding COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy, an Obstacle in the Light of Pandemic in Rural Community Lahore, Pakistan

Introduction: Instantly after declaring COVID-19 as a pandemic, many conspiracy theories sprouted through word of mouth and social media. Pakistan is vulnerable to such conspiracy narratives and has experienced failures of polio vaccination programs due to such claims. Recently, two well-known political figures raised voice against COVID-19 vaccines in Pakistan, stating that COVID-19 is a grand illusion by non-Muslims and a great agenda against Muslim countries. This theory is much discussed in the local community, supporting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The current crises created by the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all dimensions of life. Vaccines have been developed to fight the pandemic and prevent the corona virus. Misperceptions about vaccines persist despite the evidence of vaccine safety. The study aims to identify the misconceptions of the general public of Malikpur community towards COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and also different conspiracy theories, acceptance, and preference for the COVID-19 vaccine. This study is conducted in Malikpur a rural Community Lahore, Pakistan. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out through an adaptive questionnaire on a representative random sample of 98 resident of above 18 years old from Malikpur community, Lahore Pakistan. The SPSS software was utilized for statistical data analysis. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion: This study revealed the existence of conspiracy beliefs regarding the COVID-19 vaccine spread by the social media and word of mouth in Malikpur Community Lahore, Pakistan. These beliefs are posing a major threat to the upcoming immunization program for the control of COVID-19 in Pakistan. We urge healthcare authorities in Pakistan to take measures against such claims before they penetrate to the general community. Anti-vaccine actions could undermine efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that ethical and responsible conduct of mass media, a careful advisory from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, measures from healthcare authorities, practical maneuvers to increase public awareness and publication of beliefs and opinions from health professionals will help in neutralizing such misleading claims. Because Pakistan is experiencing an overload of disease, with a rise in confirmed cases, immediate action is important to eradicate any possible barriers to a future COVID-19 vaccination program. Results: Many people of Malikpur Community has misconception regarding COVID-19 vaccine that is need to be eradicated as soon as possible otherwise pandemic will not end. Keywords: Pandemic, Corona Virus, Polio vaccination, Conspiracy theories, Vaccine, Health authorities, Regulatory authorities, Anti-vaccine, Covid-19, pandemic. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/102-05 Publication date:October 31st 202

The Influence of Internet Usage on the Academic Achievements of the Students in Pakistani Universities

The advent of the Internet has invaded every aspect of students’ life in all college and university campuses throughout the nation and throughout the world. At the same time the use of the Internet in the academic arena has empowered students to sharpen and refine their skills and communication capabilities in their pursuit of successful strategies of success. Present study was conducted to know the effect of internet use on the academic achievement of the students. The study also focused to examine the gender differences among students on excess usage of internet. It has delimited the whole world and made a man able to access anywhere, anytime and in any field of life. Facilities are available at one’s door step. Likewise, excessive use of Internet has become a problem today. This part of research contribution will analyze the reality and gap between the positive and negative impact and aspects of usage of Internet on education. For this purpose quantitative research was conducted. The respondents were the universities students of Rawalpindi and Islamabad city. Two (2) universities were selected from Rawalpindi and three (3) universities from Islamabad. Researcher used simple random sampling technique. Researcher conducted face to face structure interview based on interview schedule. The data obtained in this way were analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Most (60.4%) had positive effect of internet on academics performance, slightly less than one third (31.6%) had low GPA/poor results as an effect of Internet usage on academics performance

The Influence of Internet Usage on the Academic Achievements of the Students in Pakistani Universities

The advent of the Internet has invaded every aspect of students’ life in all college and university campuses throughout the nation and throughout the world. At the same time the use of the Internet in the academic arena has empowered students to sharpen and refine their skills and communication capabilities in their pursuit of successful strategies of success. Present study was conducted to know the effect of internet use on the academic achievement of the students. The study also focused to examine the gender differences among students on excess usage of internet. It has delimited the whole world and made a man able to access anywhere, anytime and in any field of life. Facilities are available at one’s door step. Likewise, excessive use of Internet has become a problem today. This part of research contribution will analyze the reality and gap between the positive and negative impact and aspects of usage of Internet on education. For this purpose quantitative research was conducted. The respondents were the universities students of Rawalpindi and Islamabad city. Two (2) universities were selected from Rawalpindi and three (3) universities from Islamabad. Researcher used simple random sampling technique. Researcher conducted face to face structure interview based on interview schedule. The data obtained in this way were analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Most (60.4%) had positive effect of internet on academics performance, slightly less than one third (31.6%) had low GPA/poor results as an effect of Internet usage on academics performance

Toluidine blue as an adjunctive tool for early diagnosis of premalignant and malignant oral lesions

Objective: To determine the Toluidine blue as an adjunctive tool for diagnosis of premalignant and malignant oral lesions by taking histopathology as gold standard. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was held at the Outpatient Department of Isra Dental College Hospital, Isra University, Hyderabad, over six months from January 2017 to June 2017. All patients of oral premalignant lesions were selected. Toluidine blue staining was used at lesion’s area. The dye was applied directly with a cotton bud for 10-20 seconds and was decolorized and a photograph was taken. The dye retention pattern was evaluated by stain retention’s intensity on the lesion. Incisional biopsy was performed simultaneously from that site as gold standard. The data was filled in proforma and analysis was done via SPSS version 20. Results: Out of 60 cases, males were 49 (81.6%) and females were 11 (18.3%). The mean age of males and females was 41.9±10.7 years and 39.8±7.74 years respectively. 65.0% of patients had more than one addicting habit of mainpuri, gutka and supari. The commonest region of oral lesions was the buccal mucosa among 61.6% patients followed by alveolus in 16.6%, lips 8.3%, tongue 6.6%, retro molar area 3.33%, while palate and floor of mouth were involved in 1.66% patients. According to the diagnostic accuracy of methylene blue the sensitivity was 89.4% and specificity was 66.6%. Conclusion: Toluidine blue staining is the best, reliable and noninvasive screening tools to detect the early diagnosis of malignancy

Immobilization of Rose Waste Biomass for Uptake of Pb(II) from Aqueous Solutions

Rosa centifolia and Rosa gruss an teplitz distillation waste biomass was immobilized using sodium alginate for Pb(II) uptake from aqueous solutions under varied experimental conditions. The maximum Pb(II) adsorption occurred at pH 5. Immobilized rose waste biomasses were modified physically and chemically to enhance Pb(II) removal. The Langmuir sorption isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models fitted well to the adsorption data of Pb(II) by immobilized Rosa centifolia and Rosa gruss an teplitz. The adsorbed metal is recovered by treating immobilized biomass with different chemical reagents (H2SO4, HCl and H3PO4) and maximum Pb(II) recovered when treated with sulphuric acid (95.67%). The presence of cometals Na, Ca(II), Al(III), Cr(III), Cr(VI), and Cu(II), reduced Pb(II) adsorption on Rosa centifolia and Rosa gruss an teplitz waste biomass. It can be concluded from the results of the present study that rose waste can be effectively used for the uptake of Pb(II) from aqueous streams

Application of glucose oxidase for the production of metal gluconates by fermentation

The present study deals with the application of glucose oxidase (GOX) for the production of metal gluconates by fermentation method. It provides a method for the conversion of glucose into gluconic acid and its derivatives using the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOX). Due to the presence of calcium carbonate in fermentation medium the gluconic acid is converted into calcium gluconate. Conditions like concentration of substrate, temperature, pH, fermentation period and different phosphate sources were optimized during fermentation. The maximum GOX activity was observed at 35°C (pH 5.5) after 44 h of incubation at 100 rpm. At the maximum enzyme activity, the percentage yield of gluconates are also maximum; both go side by side. Sulphuric and oxalic acids method were employed for the production of gluconic acid. Derivatives of gluconic acid that is, calcium lactate gluconate, sodium gluconate, potassium gluconate, zinc gluconate and copper gluconate were formed by using double displacement and direct methods. The direct method gave the better yield. The percentage yields were 73, 89.63, 81.93, 92.86 and 81.53%, respectively. Keywords: Glucose oxidase (GOX), metal gluconate, double displacement

Drug standardization through pharmacognostic approaches and estimation of anticancer potential of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) using prostate-cancer cell lines : an in-vitro study

Cancer is the major challenge across world and the adenocarcinoma of prostate malignancy is the second most prevalent male cancer. Various medicinal plants are used for the treatment and management of various cancers. Matricaria chamomilla L., is one of the extensively used Unani medicament for the treatment of various type of diseases. In the current study we evaluated most of the parameters prescribed for drug standardization using pharmacognostic approaches. The 2,2 Diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) method was utilized for the analysis of antioxidant activity in the flower extracts of M. chamomilla. Moreover, we analyzed the antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of M. chamomilla (Gul-e Babuna) through in-vitro method. DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazl-hydrate) method was utilized for the analysis of antioxidant activity in the flower extracts of M. chamomilla. CFU and wound healing assay were performed to determine the anti-cancer activity. The results demonstrated that various extracts of M. chamomilla fulfilled most of the parameters of drug standardization and contained good antioxidant and anticancer activities. The ethyl acetate showed higher anticancer activity followed by aqueous, hydroalcoholic, petroleum benzene and methanol by CFU method. Also, the wound healing assay demonstrated that ethyl acetate extract has more significant effect followed by methanol and petroleum benzene extract on prostate cancer cell line (C4-2). The current study concluded that the extract of M. chamomilla flowers could act as good source of natural anti-cancer compounds.CCRUM, New Delhi; Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; SERB research grant; Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the National Research Foundation (NRF).https://www.jcancer.orgam2024Medical OncologySDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein